Abstract—America’s achievement gap is an unrelenting
problem. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to
understand how and why children who experience reduced
social capital acquire academic success when given more
opportunities to attain positive social capital. This investigation
used a qualitative, explanatory, single-case study, with
purposeful sampling to select the research participants. The
results of the data included three major themes:
Organizational Social Capital, Servant Leaders, and Positive
Attitudes. The recommendations for further study include
action research projects and qualitative studies to access
grounded data from the standpoint of children living the
phenomena and in settings other than churches.
Index Terms—Educational achievement gap, social
networks, social capital, social isolation.
Sylvia D. Briscoe is with the Argosy University, Philadelphia (e-mail:
sylviabriscoe03@gmail.com).
Cite: Sylvia D. Briscoe, "Participation in Religious Organizations, Positive Social Capital, and Academic Success in Children," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 36-41, 2015.