scholarly journals “Traditions Are Not for Me”: Curriculum, Alternative Schools, and Formerly Incarcerated Young Black Men’s Academic Success

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Charles H. Lea ◽  
Henry Joel Crumé ◽  
Demond Hill
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Alternative Schools ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Educational Resilience ◽  
Formerly Incarcerated ◽  
School Reentry

Literature suggests that culturally promotive curricula can counter the effect of anti-Blackness in United States (U.S.) schools by cultivating Black students’ cultural, social, and academic development and fostering learning environments in which they feel respected, connected, and invested in their school communities. However, Black students, especially young Black men, who return to school following a period of incarceration, face discrimination and numerous barriers to school reentry and engagement. While some enroll in alternative schools as a last option to earn a diploma, little is known about how curricula in these educational settings can facilitate positive school reentry experiences and outcomes among this population. As such, this intrinsic qualitative case study explored how one alternative school’s culturally promotive curriculum fosters and cultivates educational resilience among formerly incarcerated young Black men. Data collection included observations, interviews, and document reviews, and utilized a thematic analytic approach that included grounded theory techniques. Results indicate that teaching content that formerly incarcerated young Black men perceived as truthful and relevant to their lived experiences augmented their school engagement. The young men reported feeling empowered by the school’s curriculum structure and culture that allowed them to self-direct learning goals and course content toward themes that affirmed their cultural and social identities. The curriculum also appeared to facilitate positive relationships with the instructors, leading to the development of a positive school climate where the young men felt safe, appreciated, and supported. These findings highlight the important role space, place, and relationships can play in bolstering formerly incarcerated young Black men’s educational resilience through a culturally promotive curriculum in the context of an alternative school.

School Success and School Engagement of Immigrant Children and Adolescents

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽  
Ann S. Masten
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
School Success ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
The Individual

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.

Predictors of grit: A multilevel model examination of demographics and school experiences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Wanzer
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
School Culture ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Predictive Validity ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Multilevel Model ◽  
School Experiences ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Demographics ◽  
And Gender

Much of the research on grit has examined its predictive validity toward academic success; however, little research has treated grit as an outcome. This study uses multilevel modeling to examine how student-level demographics, school-level demographics, and students’ experiences in school predict grit. Results demonstrate that students’ experiences in school—including school engagement, relationships with adults and peers, and school culture—and self-reported GPA were most strongly related to grit, ethnicity was weakly related to grit, and gender and school demographics did not significantly relate to grit. Implications of this research on the potential malleability of grit are discussed.

Out of the Hood, But Not Out of the Woods: The School Engagement and Cohesion of Black Students Based on Exposure to Violence and Victimization

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-558
Author(s):  
Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards ◽  
Leann V. Smith ◽  
Paul A. Robbins ◽  
Valerie N. Adams-Bass
Keyword(s):  
Black Students ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Exposure To Violence

scholarly journals Outcomes for Black Students in Team-Based Learning Courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Macke ◽  
James Canfield ◽  
Karen Tapp ◽  
Vanessa Hunn
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Team Based Learning ◽  
The Impact

Racial inequity in postsecondary education is a significant social problem. Black students’ academic success is often hindered by feelings of isolation, particularly at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Educators should ensure that their teaching strategies promote a sense of belonging. Team-based learning (TBL) is a small-group pedagogy that is being used at an increasing rate. The extant literature has not yet examined the impact of TBL on Black students. The current study compared the academic outcomes of White and Black students enrolled in TBL courses. In this study of 148 social work students, academic outcomes were operationalized as grade point average (GPA), course grade, and peer evaluation score. Findings indicate that although Black students had comparable GPAs and course grades, they scored significantly lower on peer evaluations. Implications are discussed.

“A Rose out of This Cement”

2018 ◽  
pp. 142-161
Author(s):  
Nikki Jones
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Black Fathers ◽  
Community Residents ◽  
Life Trajectory ◽  
Forms Of Violence

Chapter 5 tells the story of Jay, one of several young men that Eric and his group tried to support shortly in his efforts to break free from the criminal justice system. I first met Jay when he was in his early twenties. He was just beginning to construct the kind of narrative and life that would lead him away from the street. Five years after our first meeting, I found myself speaking at Jay’s funeral. This chapter reveals the limitations of buffer-and-bridge work when it comes to changing the life trajectory of young men like Jay and highlights the limitations of the crime-fighting community when it comes to protecting Black youth from violence. The chapter provides a compelling illustration of how and why individualistic efforts at transformation or narrowly focused calls for the redemption of Black men in general and Black fathers in particular – narratives often embraced by a variety of community residents – will always fall short of delivering young people from the various forms of violence that shape their adolescence.

The Moderator Effect of Cognitive Modifiability on a Traditional Undergraduate Admissions Test for Disadvantaged Black Students in South Africa

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian M. Shochet
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
First Year ◽  
Aptitude Tests ◽  
Moderator Effect ◽  
Intellectual Assessment ◽  
Undergraduate Admissions ◽  
Cognitive Modifiability

Universities in South Africa are faced with the problem of finding admissions criteria, other than high school grades, that are both fair and valid for black applicants severely disadvantaged by an inferior school education. The use of traditional intellectual assessments and aptitude tests (such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test) for disadvantaged and minority students remains controversial as a fair assessment, in that these tests do not take account of potential for change. In this study, therefore, a measure of students' cognitive modifiability, assessed by means of an Interactive Assessment model, was added as a moderator of the traditional intellectual assessment in predicting first-year university success. Cognitive modifiability significantly moderated the predictive validity of the traditional intellectual assessment for a sample of disadvantaged black students enrolled in the first year Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the Witwatersrand. The higher the level of cognitive modifiability, the less effective were traditional methods for predicting academic success and vice versa. The implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Black Boys’ and Young Men’s Experiences with Criminal Justice and Desistance in England and Wales: A Literature Review

Genealogy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Laura Robertson ◽  
John Peter Wainwright
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Justice Systems ◽  
Minority Ethnic

Black boys and young men are over-represented in the youth and adult justice systems in England and Wales. Despite the Lammy Review (2017) into the treatment of and outcomes for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic individuals (BAME) in the criminal justice system, the disproportionate numbers of Black boys and young men at all stages of the system continue to rise. There has been limited qualitative research of Black boys’ and young men’s experiences with the justice system in England and Wales. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on their experiences with sentencing and courts. What is known tends to focus on Black, Asian, and minority ethnic and/or Muslim men’s experiences more generally. A lack of critical understanding of the specific experiences of desistance by young Black men has been criticised in the literature. Set in this context, this review of UK literature focuses on the following questions: (1) What are Black boys’ and young Black men’s experiences with the youth and criminal justice systems in England and Wales? (2) What does research tell us specifically about their experiences with desistance?

ALAS: An Intervention to Promote Career Development Among Latina/o Immigrant High School Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 608-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Hawley McWhirter ◽  
Bryan O. Rojas-Araúz ◽  
Robert Ortega ◽  
Darien Combs ◽  
Christina Cendejas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Career Development ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
School Connectedness ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Students

This article describes the rationale, development, delivery, and evaluation strategy of a pilot career intervention program for immigrant Latina/o high school students: Advocating for Latina/o Achievement in School. This innovative intervention aims to prevent dropout and to promote academic success and college and career readiness through a combination of academic support and enhancing critical consciousness. Shorter term goals include increasing school-related self-efficacy expectations, school connectedness, school engagement, and critical consciousness. We describe the theoretical and empirical basis for the intervention components, and how they attend to dimensions of immigrant Latina/o students’ career development. We describe program logistics, outcomes, strengths, challenges, and lessons learned from delivering the intervention. We highlight unique features of the program and suggest its relevance to career education efforts in other school and national contexts in which immigrant students face racism and inequities.

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