____________________________________________________________________ SOCIAL CAPITAL, INSTITUTIONAL AGENCY, MINORITY OR LOW- STATUS YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, AND AVID IMPLEMENTATION by Bruce Lamar Mims A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION August 2007 Copyright 2007 Bruce Lamar Mims