School Choice in Black and White: Private School Enrollment Among Racial Groups, 1990–2000

This study investigates how much the racial composition of communities influences the private school enrollment rates of members of different racial groups. Some scholars argue that private school enrollment contributes to racial segregation in public schools because White families attempt to enhance the social status of their children by leaving public schools serving communities with higher percentages of children who are Black. A second group of scholars argue that private school enrollment is primarily based on nonracial factors. A third, related perspective argues that race is of diminishing importance in driving behaviors such as school choice. This study explores these perspectives using 1990 and 2000 Public Use Micro Data Samples to estimate private school enrollment rates by student race and community racial composition. Findings indicate that private school enrollment rates among Asian, Black, and Hispanic students do not fluctuate much with community racial composition. By contrast, private school enrollment rates among White families are strongly and positively correlated with the percentage of children in their communities who are Black—even after holding constant a series of individual and community-level factors that may account for this trend. Moreover, the association between race and choice has changed little between 1990 and 2000.     

Collective Identity and the Burden of “Acting White” in Black History,Community, and Education

After more than 15 years of comparative study of minority education, I concluded that I would have to study two additional factors, namely collective identity and cultural frame of reference to more fully explain the variability in minority school performance. In 1986, I published an article with Signithia Fordham on how oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture contributed to Black students' school performance. Many critics have misinterpreted the joint article and even constructed a different thesis of oppositional culture than the one we proposed in the joint article. The thesis is that Black students do not aspire to or strive to get good grades because it is perceived as acting White. Furthermore, they have translated my cultural–ecological theory into an oppositional culture theory. I am writing this paper to correct the misinterpretations of the joint article in order to advance scholarship on the subject. I begin by explaining the meaning of collective identity and distinguishing it from other concepts of identity. Specifically, I summarize the evolution of oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture among Black Americans and discuss the Black experience with the burden of acting White in the contemporary United States. Finally, I suggest some continuity between Black historical and community experiences with the burden of acting White, as experienced by Black students.     

Empirical Evidence of Social and Emotional Learning's Influence on School Success: A Commentary on “Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say?,” a book edited by Joseph E. Zins,Roger P. Weissberg,Margaret C. Wang,and Herbert J. Walberg

In Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What does the Research Say? Zins and his colleagues presented a new way to conceptualize the impact of social and emotional learning programs on students' school success by broadening the concept to include students' attitudes, behaviors, and performance. To build on Zins' ideas, we (a) briefly review research examining the impact of 262 social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on a number of outcomes that assessed school attitudes, behaviors, and performance; and (b) suggest additional avenues for research of SEL interventions.     

Making a Difference in Research and Practice: A Commentary on “Consulting to Facilitate Planned Organizational Change in Schools,” an article by Joseph E. Zins and Robert J. Illback

Zins and Illback observed in 1995 that planned organizational change processes were neglected in practice, training, and research. In the decade following publication of their article, implementation of processes and structures of planned organizational change increased dramatically. Schools and school districts continue to face increased opportunities and challenges associated with engaging with multiple organizational change efforts and face the prospect of negotiating the demands, accountabilities, and competing priorities emerging from discrepant efforts. Challenges emerging from widespread adoption of planned change processes are discussed in this commentary.     

“You look like them”: Drawing on Counselling Theory and Practice to Reflexively Negotiate Cultural Difference in Research Relationships

Located within a context of intercultural counselling research, this paper highlights the pertinence of the researcher’s reflexivity and cultural awareness in relation to research relationships. It draws on an excerpt between a white European interviewer and an Asian trainee counsellor discussing the latter’s experience of intercultural counselling practice. A reflexive analysis of a short passage aims to demonstrate how explicit negotiation of cultural difference within the interview setting advanced the researcher’s understanding of the participant’s experience, which was being investigated. The interrelated challenges, but also the importance of the interviewer’s preparedness to explore power imbalances in the research relationship are also examined, as are some key limitations of such endeavours. This paper underlines the usefulness of counselling skills in qualitative research, hoping to function as an invitation for more practitioner involvement in therapeutic inquiry.     

Cultivating Fertile Grounds: Enhancing and Extending the Scientific Base of Social and Emotional Learning: A Commentary on “The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success,” a chapter by Joseph E. Zins,Michelle R. Bloodworth,Roger P. Weissberg,and Herbert J. Walberg

Joseph Zins was a forerunner in empirically demonstrating the interrelationship of SEL interventions and school success. This commentary highlights his perspectives on the accumulating body of evidence for the academic gains that have been associated with various SEL interventions and aims to show how new research methodologies can further extend the scientific support as well as enhance the cultural responsiveness of SEL interventions. A partnership approach to research is advocated for addressing three important research directions: defining and measuring social and emotional competencies, co-constructing intervention programs, and achieving system-level program integration.     

“We Need to Come Together and Raise Our Kids and Our Communities Right”: Black Males Rewriting Social Representations

This article excavates the voices of urban black males as they speak their name (Belton, 1996) in a society that denies them this right. Based on data gathered in a large-scale ethnographic interview study of urban America, the authors traverse the spoken lives of these men, as they weave stories about neighborhood and state violence, opportunities denied and missed, and the current power of black men's groups in the church. Through their day-to-day lives urban black men challenge social representations about them in racist America, constructing an alternative hegemonic masculinity revolving around relationships, fatherhood, and dignity.Professor of Sociology of Education at the State University of New York at BuffaloCompleted her Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo and is now a practicing psychologist at Claremont CollegesCurrent graduate student at CUNY     

“The Nation Stands Behind You”: Mobilizing Social Support on 38pitches.com

This research explored social support expressions to and for Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, in response to troubling events he disclosed on his blog, www.38pitches.com. An interpretive analysis of 514 comments posted by blog readers to Schilling's blog entries was conducted. The analysis revealed that, via their supportive postings, blog readers emerged as a mobilized support group who authenticated Schilling's identity as a sports media critic and active sports media participant while also cementing his legacy in Red Sox culture. The analysis suggests that blogs possess valuable public relations utility for professional athletes, particularly for those who have combative relationships with sports journalists, as social support is covertly obtained, enabling professional athletes to preserve “face” while simultaneously garnering support for their views.     

“Our Leaders Are Just We Ourself”: Black Women College Student Leaders’ Experiences With Oppression and Sources of Nourishment on a Predominantly White College Campus

This article offers a theoretical analysis and phenomenological study of the leadership experiences of black women college students at a predominantly white higher education institution. Existing literature argues that leadership development is vital to the college experience as an opportunity to empower and engage students in social change. However, the implementation of these leadership development models fail to consider how the racial and gender identities of students influence leadership development or student peer interactions (Byrd, 2009; Kezar & Moriarty, 2000). Through black feminist standpoint theory, I present a theoretical framework that highlights the historical traditions of black women's leadership. These historical traditions grounded my qualitative study, which explores the experiences of contemporary black women's student leadership. Participants reported interpersonal interactions with oppression, more specifically: stereotypes, microaggressions, racialized and gendered self-presentation expectations, along with negotiating voice and silencing. A number of social factors were cited as sources of nourishment where women drew from historical traditions of black women's leadership to persist through oppressive challenges. Additional sources of nourishment included mothering, mentorship, allyship from white peers, and the formation of social networks.     

A White Veneer: Education policy,space and “race” in the inner city

This paper explores how neo-liberal education policy change and urban renewal in inner Sydney and London has interacted with “raced” and classed educational identities. I draw on two examples of policy change, the Building the Future policy development in the inner city area of Sydney and the “Excellence in Cities” partnership programme in East London. The paper outlines, and applies, a spatial education policy sociology framework to explore the interplay of space, place, “race” and education policy. This paper suggests that in inner Sydney and London “whiteness” as a racial construct is present but noticeably absent and that this absent presence creates a “white veneer” around educational policy change and urban renewal.