Instructions/prompt:
The Statement of Goals is taken very seriously in reviewing applications. It should include a rationale for enrolling in the program, with specific attention given to how the program fits your needs and goals; a summary of relevant work, volunteer, and life experience; and a description of your particular research, intellectual, and applied interests.
Statement of Goals-Draft 4,
Doctoral PhD
As a high school student, I saw fifty seniors graduate out of a school of 1,200 students. Though several of my classmates were motivated in between their academic courses and after school, many of them either had poor attendance or showed a lack of effort in their class work. Witnessing these events once as a student and after receiving a Master's in education has inspired me to pursue further graduate studies in education. The reason I am enrolling in the Urban Education Ph. D Program at Temple University, is to become better equipped with the knowledge, tools, and resources to advocate for youth at a higher level. My goals are to find methods to increase graduation rates of inner city youth, develop and implement programs that support students' learning and growth outside of the classroom, and ultimately utilize the skills I've learned to develop and build a educational media company center.
I am passionate about education because it is vital to the social equity and efficient functioning of our society. I believe that every student should have the opportunity to receive a quality and higher education. As an Urban Education major I would like to address issues that hinder students from graduating high school. I am particularly interested the work of Dr. Horvat regarding the power and limits of parental social capital in schools, since my role at the school is to help increase parental involvement. I am also interested in studying new approaches to closing the achievement gap. Being able to go to both suburban and urban public schools growing up, I have seen the grave differences in the services offered and would like to contribute to inner city students matching their Urban Counterparts academically.
The way I am interested in developing programs outside of school that enhance formal learning in the classroom. Currently, I serve on the Board of PowerPlay, NYC--a program dedicated to educating and empowering girls through sports. As a teenager, this program exposed me to women, many of color, in the Sports Business, whom I never knew existed. Many of the positive images of the women of color I saw in the media were entertainers or athletes. Meeting these women who were managers, agents, and Vice Presidents inspired me to take my work more seriously so I could be like them one day. By enrolling in the Urban Education program, I want to become trained in order to give more students quality after school programs and opportunities that they may not have access to otherwise, that will help them become more engaged in their formal work.
Finally, I am struck by the impact that the hip-hop culture has on students. Many students whom I've seen struggle in their academic subjects can recite every word of the most popular songs with passion, and many times can write themselves. Therefore, I would like to develop an educational media company that employs talented youth in their ability to make and memorize music to create study tools for other students. I believe the Urban Education program at Temple fits my needs because I will have an opportunity to work with a professor from the music department to further develop these ideas. I also believe that the diverse student population will contribute to a profound learning experience.
My mission is to increase my knowledge of the methods, theory, and strategies of programs outside of the classroom and to dynamically present this in ways that can improve academic achievement in formal learning. I believe that the Urban Education Program is a great fit for my goals because it is diverse in its coursework, student and faculty and it has relationships with and projects in schools and organizations that serve populations I am interested in reaching out to. I believe that the professors and students at Temple are some of the most remarkable in their field, and that building relationships with them will lead to a more profound perspective of and a rewarding career in education.
