Black School Students Research Articles

Wrestling with racism and anti-blackness: confronting legacies of coloniality in teacher education programs

PurposeThis paper argues that to preserve black lives, teacher educators and teacher candidates need to develop a decolonial lens. A decolonial lens can provide clarity in understanding how the centering of Western epistemic perspectives perpetuate hierarchies and processes of racialization and invisibilized structures of domination that (re)produce differential learning experiences and outcomes for black students. This study aims to build on prior research to help teacher candidates more effectively recognize and challenge racism and anti-blackness in their schools and teaching practices.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the author discusses how racism and anti-blackness are perpetuated in schooling and why teacher educators must address them in our work with teacher candidates. Drawing upon existing literature on teacher education, my experiences as a teacher educator and social justice scholar, and insights from the decolonial scholarship, the discusses the importance of a decolonial lens for disrupting racism and anti-blackness, and I offer examples of how teacher educators and teacher candidates can engage in this work.FindingsMulticultural education has done little to change the conditions of black students in schools. While most teacher education programs have made efforts to become more oriented toward social justice, there is a wide gap between program goals and teachers who can work effectively with the diversity of students that they serve.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines an approach that teacher educators can use to further develop an antiracist decolonial teaching and research agenda and support teacher candidates regardless of their racial/ethnic group.Social implicationsA decolonial analysis can help teachers develop a better understanding of the structural and school inequalities that create disparate outcomes for black students and how to intervene. This is urgently necessary, as schooling remains a site of non-belonging and marginalization for black children and youth.Originality/valueThis paper offers a new race-conscious approach to disrupt systemic racism and anti-blackness in education.

Restorative Practices: Using local evidence on costs and student outcomes to inform school district decisions about behavioral interventions

School disciplinary practices affect student academic and life outcomes. Many schools have recently shifted towards the prevention of behavioral disorders rather than the punishment of such disorders, but disciplinary actions are still disproportionately meted out to Black students. We took advantage of a natural experiment in a large school district to investigate the costs and effects of a school-wide intervention based on the principles of restorative justice on suspensions, referrals, and three school climate constructs. The study involved 14 elementary and middle schools, each of which was already implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Six of the schools integrated Restorative Practices into their PBIS framework during the first year of the study, whereas the other eight served as comparison schools and implemented the program the following year. We tested a difference-in-difference regression model for each of our five outcomes of interest after 1 year of implementation using Quasi-Poisson models for referrals and suspensions. We found no statistically significant effects on four of the outcomes, either for the overall sample or by racial subgroup. We found negative effects on student-reported personal safety. An additional analysis 1 year later showed that Black students in schools implementing Restorative Practices for 2 years experienced a greater reduction in suspensions than Black students in schools implementing the program for only 1 year. We used the ingredients method to estimate start-up costs and ongoing costs for the first full year of implementation. Our reference case analysis results using a societal perspective, national average prices, and a 3% discount rate were $57,450 per school and $139 per student for the first year of Restorative Practices implementation. These estimates included training costs from the prior year and were incremental to the costs of PBIS, which served as the business-as-usual condition. We compared these costs to those of a number of other behavioral interventions and concluded that Restorative Practices are relatively low cost but may need to be implemented for several years with greater fidelity in order to produce the desired improvements in behavior events and school climate.

Accountability, Inequality, and Achievement: The Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Multiple Measures of Student Learning

Scholars continue to debate whether gains on the state tests used for accountability generalize to other measures of student achievement. Using panel data on students from a large urban school district, we estimate the impact of accountability pressure related to the No Child Left Behind Act on two measures of academic achievement: the state test and an “audit” test that is not tied to the accountability system. Overall, we find that accountability pressure is associated with increased state test scores in math and lower audit math and reading test scores. However, the sources of state and audit test score divergence varied by students’ race. Black students in schools facing the most accountability pressure made no gains on state tests, and their losses on audit math tests were twice as large as those of Hispanic students. These findings highlight the importance of better understanding the mechanisms that produce heterogeneous effects of accountability pressure across achievement measures and subgroups.

<em>Josephs without Pharaohs: The Du Boisian Framework for the Sociology of Education</em>

INTRODUCTIONBlacks are generally disadvantaged at both the macro and micro levels of U.S. society. At the macro level, Blacks have historically suffered from low rates of social mobility. This holds whether mobility is measured as educational attainment (Kao & Thompson, 2003), residential mobility (Massey & Denton, 1993), or wealth accumulation (Oliver & Shapiro, 2006). At the micro level, Black students in U.S. schools are more likely than students from other backgrounds to have negative interactions with peers, teachers, and other school authority figures (Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000). Both levels of inequality contribute to racial disparities in educational experiences and outcomes (Diamond, 2006). How should sociologists of education conceptualize these dual processes?As early as 1898, Du Bois argued that Blacks' micro level educational realities-number and condition of schools, illiteracy rates, and being unwelcome in schools and colleges with Whites - were inseparable from a macro level peculiar environment (Du Bois, 1898). Denials of Black humanity, anti-Black discrimination, fear of large scale Black socioeconomic mobility, and resistance to widespread educational opportunities for Blacks characterized this environment. Paradoxically, it would take education for Blacks to fully recognize the extent of their oppression. Because Du Bois articulated the interplay between education and oppression in this way, his writings and speeches on education reveal an innovative conceptualization of the macro-micro link. His work, therefore, also presents one resolution to the macro-micro issue within the sociology of education (Hammersley, 1984; Mehan, 1992; O'Connor, Lewis, & Mueller, 2007; Shilling, 1992; Willmott, 1999).In this article, the author outlines a Du Boisian framework for the sociology of education. The framework is based on Du Bois's numerous writings and speeches about the education of Black students. Also considered are sections of his major works (e.g., The Souls of Black Folk, 1994) that touch on education. The author uses Du Bois's work as qualitative data from which to generate a grounded theoretical framework (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Doing so demonstrates one way to connect Du Bois's broader educational philosophy to the investigation of specific educational realities facing Black students today. Du Bois is quoted at length whenever possible to enter his own words into the lexicon of the sociology of education, from which he currently remains largely absent.The Du Boisian framework's central problematic is the macro-micro feedback loop between racial inequalities in the U.S. political economy (Marable, 2000) and discriminatory treatment of Black students in schools (see Figure 1). The feedback loop perpetuates multigenerational educational inequality. That is, discriminatory treatment of Black students in schools is made possible by, and reinforces for another generation, racial inequalities in political economy. Du Bois's theoretical points of view on education will be identified as neo-Marxism (Bowles & Gintis, 1972, 2002, 2013) at the macro level and structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) at the micro level. Given the framework's central problematic of the macro-micro feedback loop, it is not surprising that both points of view focus on the bidirectional relationship between individuals and society, or agents and structures.The Du Boisian framework reconceptualizes issues currently facing Black students, who are the focus of much sociological and educational research (see O'Connor, Lewis, & Mueller, 2007). Issues are seen as ways in which political economic inequalities affect another generation of Black youth through or by way of the institution of schooling. This new intuition applies both within and between schools. Individual schools, even racially integrated ones, can be internally organized on the basis of race. Furthermore, the distribution of educational opportunity between schools and neighborhoods in the U. …

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40 years later: Now can we talk? by Lee Anne Bell (Producer), and Markie Hancock (Director). United States: Hancock Productions, 2013. $19.95, DVD and discussion guide.Reviewed by Marquis Dwarte, Baltimore County Public Schools.In this compelling documentary, executive producer Lee Anne Bell and director Markie Hancock, chronicled the events that transpired in Batesville, Mississippi's South Panola High School during its transition to a racially integrated school. To better understand the challenges of integration, Bell and Hancock employed one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions as means to provoke discussion about and provide insight to the experiences of, both, Black and White alumni from South Panola's graduating class of 1969. The interviews were conducted at Batesville High School, and this setting provided strong visual cues for the viewers and evoked authentic emotion from the participants. For the first time ever, the Black and White students of South Panola High School's class of 1969 were afforded an opportunity to speak honestly and openly about the events that took place during the early years of school integration. With more than 40 years passing, the question still remained why it took over four decades for South Panola's class of 1969 to finally invite their Black peers to the class reunion.Throughout the documentary, a series of reoccurring themes emerged as the alumni provided their stories, experiences, and accounts of the impact of racial integration on their school experiences and their lives. The first theme was how the Black students were robbed of so many of the valuable life experiences that typically take place during high school and shape some of a person's best memories. The second theme was how the Black students truly exemplified courage and resolve in an effort to endure nearly insurmountable challenges and still achieve success. The third theme was the sense that, to this day, the Black students of the class of 1969 still struggle to fully understand the malicious treatment they had to withstand simply to access their constitutional right to attend school. Unfortunately, until this time, there had been little to no dialogue that centered on the issues and challenges faced by the Black students.The discrimination encountered by South Panola High School's Black students was a microcosm of what was occurring across most of America's southern states during this time in history. The cruel treatment of the Black students attending South Panola High School permeated every aspect of the school's culture. The stories of their mistreatment were both powerful and sad and brought back agonizing recollections of these students' experiences. Among the examples of the malevolent treatment were Black students being ostracized for playing varsity athletics, being openly called coon and nigger as they walked from class to class, fearing for their safety because of threats, both, on the bus and in the schoolhouse, having to endure racially charged chants and songs at school-wide functions including the pep rally, and not being permitted to attend their prom. …

School Choice in London, England: Characteristics of Students in Different Types of Secondary Schools

In England, parents make “choices” (in reality, “preferences”) for the state-maintained secondary schools they wish their child to attend. If there are more applicants than places, the school's published admissions criteria are used to give priority to applicants. This article examines how school composition in London varies by first comparing schools that are overtly academically selective with those that are nominally “comprehensive” (“all ability”); second, comparing “comprehensive” schools that control their own admissions with those that do not; third, comparing schools with and without selective admissions criteria; and fourth, comparing schools that use religious criteria with those that do not. We find that school compositions vary. Academically selective schools have fewer students from poor households than comprehensive schools in the same area and have fewer Black and more Indian and Chinese/Other Asian students. Comprehensive schools with autonomy over admissions admit higher attaining students and have fewer students from poor households and with special educational needs, and those with selective admissions criteria admit higher performing children. There are fewer Bangladeshi/Pakistani students and more Black students in schools with a religious character than in those without. Although a range of factors are likely to play a role in explaining the variation in school composition, the evidence suggests that there is “selecting in” and “selecting out” of more desirable students by some schools. Implications for policy are highlighted. This article is based on a presentation given at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco in 2006. It has since been substantially revised. We are grateful for the comments made by two anonymous reviewers. They would also like to thank Hazel Pennell, RobertWest, Philip Noden, and Peter Currie for comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Black Teachers, Black Students, Black Communities, and Brown: Perspectives and Insights from Experts

This study sought to understand the impact of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision for Black teachers, Black students, and Black communities by eliciting and interviewing expert researchers in the field of education who have studied Brown in some depth over the course of their respective careers. Findings from the three expert participants point to Black-teacher demotion and Black-teacher voicelessness as two of the consequences of the Brown decision for Black teachers. In addition, the study revealed that issues around Black teachers, post-desegregation, cannot be studied in depth without considering the relationship among Black teachers, Black students, Black communities, and Brown. BACKGROUND In this article, we consider the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision of 1954 on the desegregation of public schools in the United States of America, and secondarily on the provision of better learning opportunities for Black students. To this end, we identified researchers in the field of education, noted scholars whose research addressed issues pertaining to the Brown decision. They were interviewed and asked to address several salient questions that might help educators better understand the impact of Brown on Black teachers, Black students, as well as Black communities. Three main issues provide the impetus for this study: (a) the Black teaching force has declined significantly over the last few decades and continues to decline even in 2003; (b) Black students have not been faring well in public schools since the Brown decision; (c) there seems to be important connections among Black teachers, Black communities, Black students and the Brown decision. Indeed, we are mindful of Hudson and Holmes' (1994) perspective that: ...the loss of African American teachers in public school settings has had a lasting negative impact on all students, particularly African American students and the communities in which they reside...[Although the shrinking African American teacher pool has been attributable to several factors, it is partly a fall-out of how Brown was implemented by White American policy makers, (p. 389) We attempt to understand how the loss of Black teachers in public school contexts may have impacted Black students in schools and how the implementation of Brown may relate to Black teacher attrition, Black student achievement, and Black communities. A DECISION THAT CHANGED EDUCATION AS WE KNEW IT In 1951, the family of Linda Brown complained to the NAACP that their daughter was walking over a mile to her Black, segregated elementary school when a White elementary school was located only a few blocks away. Upon the recommendation and guidance of the NAACP, the family attempted to enroll young Linda Brown into the segregated White elementary school, as did many other Black families in the community. These requests were denied, which resulted in a lawsuit, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. It is important to note that the Brown case was not the first attempt at dismantling the injustices inherent in the schooling of Black students. On May 17, 1896, after years of struggle, the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case decision, which ruled against integration but advanced the notion of separate but equal, brought attention to segregation and to integration. In essence, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated sections of buses and schools, for instance, were to be equal. The idea was that these buses and schools would be segregated but the facilities and accommodations would be equal to that of White's. Of course, this ruling was never really earned out or actualized as Blacks continued to receive second-class facilities and accommodations-especially in schools. Arguments in favor of integration in the Brown case pointed to the harmful effect and psychological messages and images that Black students may have endured as they observed better facilities for White students in comparison to the dilapidated buildings in which Black students experienced from day-to-day. …

Unraveling the "Model Minority" Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth.

Unraveling Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth, by Stacey J. Lee. York: Teachers College Press, 1996.160 pp. $39.00, cloth; $17.95, paper. Reviewed by Donna Y. Ford, The University of Virginia; and Deneese L. Jones, The University of Kentucky. There seems to be a national obsession with explaining high educational achievement of Asian American students, who are often referred to as minority. Educators and researchers in particular have relied heavily on comparative research and theory to explain why some minority groups fare better than others educationally and economically. The most popular theory has been that advanced by Ogbu (1978, 1990, 1992), through his comparison of what he calls involuntary and voluntary minority groups. Unraveling Model Minority offers a brief but interesting analysis of Ogbu's theory regarding members of this latter group. Countering Ogbu, Lee contends that his analysis (a) fails to explain why Asians do not perform as well in their respective countries of origin as they do in United States; (b) fails to explain poor achievement among Asian Americans; and (c) treats voluntary minorities as a homogeneous group, thereby ignoring within-group differences among various Asians (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.). Like Ogbu, Lee places heavy emphasis on comparing achievements of Asian Americans with African Americans. This is not a criticism, however, for Lee is to be commended for being one of few researchers who has put pen to paper in an effort to raise readers' awareness as well as their consciousness regarding myths and motives surrounding seemingly positive stereotype of Asian Americans. As Christine Sleeter states in Foreword, the model minority image authorizes flat denial of racism and structures of racial dominance, and silences those who are not economically successful (p. ix). In unraveling model minority stereotype, this work illustrates how it is used both as a hegemonic device to support notions of meritocracy and individualism, and as an obvious but long-ignored tactic to pit people of color against each other. The book is based on a qualitative study conducted in a high school located in a major city on East Coast, north of Mason-Dixon line. Of 2,050 students enrolled at this school, 45% were White, 35% Black, 18% Asian American, and 2% members of other racial/ethnic groups. Lee early explains that several questions guided this study, among them following: What do Asian American student identities explain about formation of ethnic//racial identity? How does variation in Asian American student identity contribute to our understanding of literature on immigrant minorities? How did model minority stereotype influence Asian American student identity? What identities were encouraged and discouraged by school? How did model minority stereotype influence race relations? What influence did school have on race relations? In search of answers to these questions, Lee conducted semistructured interviews with 47 of 356 Asian American students, a number of teachers, and several of school's Black students. The book centers on experiences of students from four Asian American identity groups: Korean-identified students; Asian-identified students; Asian Americanidentified students; and New Wavers, a group Lee describes as personifying a culture of resistance to extant racial/ethnic identities. Accordingly, she notes that these four groups are categorized based on students' levels of racial identity and pride, levels of acculturation, cultural orientations (values, beliefs, behaviors), and attitudes toward school and achievement. After reading this book, readers may begin to sense how model minority stereotype serves to ease guilt and appease conscience of those who wish to ignore nation's most trenchant social ills-namely, racism, prejudice, and discrimination. …

Black education

Protest by black school students at their inferior education system first erupted in Soweto in 1976. T. W. Kambule, for over 15 years Principal of Orlando High School, Soweto — a community-built school and for 25 years the only secondary school in Soweto — here explains why young Blacks have continued and increased their protests. A year ago he predicted further outbreaks, worse than 1976, if the signs of discontent continued to be brushed aside. In September 1984, Kambule told us: ‘Just now at the time of writing, schools have been closed in and around Soweto for a radius of 50 miles. Things are bad, and the government as usual is using strong-arm tactics, and the situation is deteriorating by the day. And there is no visible attempt to address the problems. The authorities are fanning the flames which border on a revolution. Even now there is a massive stay away from work by all and sundry. We are worried and the rulers indifferent.’ In 1977 Kambule resigned with 400 other Soweto teachers and is now Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Witwatersrand. The article first appeared in Indicator, Volume 1, No 3, published by the University of Natal.

Effects of School Organizational Structure on Interracial Friendships in Middle Schools

AbstractThis study examined the effect of school organizational structure on interracial friendships among middle school students. Students evaluated a white friend and a black friend on a modified semantic differential scale and reported the number of their other-race friends. Responses of students in two team-structured schools were contrasted to those of students in three traditionally structured schools. Multivariate analysis revealed that the organization of a school affects number of other-race friends and that whites with even some black friends are more positive in their perceptions of blacks than are those who report having almost no black friends. Variations in the nature and extent of contact between white and black students in schools does affect the racial attitudes of whites. Black students rated white and black friends the same regardless of the organizational structure of the school.