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The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the impact of the digital divide on student success in the United States. With almost zero preparation, programs serving young people completely restructured moving from face-to-face engagement to entirely virtual platforms. This study details discoveries made during a 2020 summer youth employment program for adolescent-aged interns that quickly pivoted to virtual program delivery. The study reveals an assets-based philosophy applied to the practice of the program and how that approach mitigated the consequences of the face-to-face to a virtual switch. Highlighted are ways that Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework describes how the program staff created success in the unexpectedly virtual workspaces. Lastly, recommendations for facilitating virtual summer youth employment programming are provided.

As few studies document how teachers in urban contexts positively contribute to a college-going culture, this study adopts a counter-narrative approach, with a conceptual framework grounded in emotion and caring in teaching, to ask: How do teachers exhibit (com)passion in their efforts to support a college-going culture? Interviews with 12 teachers, supplemented by school documents, archival and observational data, and field notes from a qualitative case study at three urban high schools revealed how teachers maintained high expectations of students, exhibited high degrees of emotional understanding, and conveyed a strong commitment to students, their success, and postsecondary pursuits.

Culturally responsive (CR) leadership permeates all leadership practices and consists of several domains including: developing critical consciousness, supporting cultural knowledge development, and advocating for social justice within and outside of the school walls. This case focuses on the need to ground CR leadership in critical self-reflection and cultural consciousness by exploring the relationship between a White principal and his first leadership team member of Color who brings a different, bicultural perspective to his work. Assumptions that fill the void left by a lack of cultural knowledge lead to damaging effects including tokenism and stereotype threat.