Communication Patterns of African American Girls and Boys from Low-Income, Urban Backgrounds

This study investigated gender effects on the conversational strategies used among 106 African American children ( mean age = 7 years) from urban, low-income family backgrounds. Same- and mixed-gender pairs of children from the same grade level in an inner-city school were provided with toy bear puppets and asked to play together for 5 min. Conversations were coded using Leaper's Psychosocial Processes Coding Scheme, which classifies communication acts as either collaborative, controlling, informing, obliging, or withdrawing. Girls and boys were more similar than different. However, gender-related variations were found. Boys were more likely than girls to use controlling acts and domineering exchanges in same-gender pairs but not in mixed-gender pairs. Girls were more likely than boys to use a combination of collaborative and informing acts. For partner gender effects we found that controlling acts and domineering exchanges were less likely — whereas informing acts were more likely — to take place when children were matched with a girl than when they were matched with a boy. Findings replicate many of the gender effects on communication style reported in a prior study (Leaper, 1991) that used a similar procedure and coding strategy with a sample of middle-income children from mostly European American backgrounds.     

Successful Pedagogy in Urban Schools: Perspectives of Four African American Teachers

Despite numerous attempts in the 1990s to reform urban schools, little attention has been given to understanding the beliefs and practices of successful African American urban teachers and applying the resulting knowledge to reform proposals. This article attempts to build on previous studies of exemplary African American teachers through its portrayal of the beliefs and practices of four successful urban African American teachers within the context of existing research. The persistence of common themes across numerous studies suggests that successful African American pedagogy is not idiosyncratic. This interpretative study provides a way to recognize and understand such pedagogy.     

The Experiences of African American Physical Education Teacher Candidates at Secondary Urban Schools

Presently, most physical education teachers in the United States are White Americans and from middle class families. In fact, 83 % of all teachers in public schools are White Americans, whereas approximately 10 % of all African American teachers are representative of all teachers in the United States. A student might feel cultural dissonance that she or he is behaving appropriately based on the student’s cultural norm and upbringing, but the teachers who have different cultural and ethnic backgrounds than the students may inappropriately interpret or respond to the behavior. Therefore, it is important to study African American pre-service physical education teachers’ student teaching and field-based experiences with ethnically diverse adolescence (e.g., African American students), because they have the potential to develop a positive relationship between school support, teacher support, and academic achievement and influence student learning, motivation, and engagement in physical education. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the experiences of African American physical education teacher education (PETE) candidates at secondary urban schools. The research design was explanatory multiple-case study situated in activity theory. Participants were seven African American PETE candidates. The qualitative data sources were interviews, weekly journal reflections, and e-portfolios. The results were (a) navigating power relationships between cooperative teachers and students, (b) a ‘shocking’ experience: Feeling under-prepared, and (c) encountered cultural normalcies and stereotypes in teaching physical education. PETE programs must better prepare teacher candidates for working in urban schools with greater cultural competence and higher self-efficacy.     

Threatened and Placed at Risk: High Achieving African American Males in Urban High Schools

This study investigated the risk and protective factors of 11 high-achieving African American males attending 4 urban charter high schools in a Midwestern city to determine what factors account for their resilience and success in mathematics courses, and in high school more generally. This research was guided by a Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory, which assisted in extrapolating how these young Black males make sense of their experiences despite the many challenges they face growing up in urban Black America. Results indicate that although students were under multiple forms of academic and physical threat within and beyond school walls, there was a keen presence of academic agency and an ability to manage potentially threatening situations to cleverly protect themselves from complex systems of risk.     

Ethnic and Panethnic Asian American Identities: Contradictory Perceptions of Cambodian Students in Urban Schools

This article examined the various ethnic identities of Cambodian students, a group often perceived by the larger society through the lens of the model minority stereotype but often endure low expectations from teachers and counselors in their local high schools. Our findings suggested that a Cambodian identity was often considered a stigmatized label and students identified as Cambodian were essentialized into the discourse of urban low achieving and culturally deficient minority students. Cambodian students’ identities in the less selective academic programs were often quite visible to teachers. This characterization was often coupled with a panethnic representation of Asian American students in selective programs who were considered motivated and supported by advantageous home and cultural values. In these contexts, teachers preferred to discuss Cambodian students in panethnic terms, ignoring students’ ethnic backgrounds, described their Cambodian students as part of their “bright Asian students” group. Overall, this study extends other works on Asian American ethnicity and panethnicity by focusing on the conflicting identities that affect the schooling of Cambodian students. These analyses complicate further the static notion of Asian American students as model minorities by emphasizing the fluid, problematic, and contextually-based nature of the construct.     

African American Students in Private, Independent Schools: Parents and School Influences on Racial Identity Development

Although much research has focused on the public school experiences of African American students, few studies exist that explore their race-related experiences within an independent, private school context. Studies have suggested that, while private, independent schools may elevate the quality of African American students’ education, many of these students experience social isolation from their peers. Using a qualitative methodology, the current study explores the experiences of African American students attending a private, independent school. Moreover, this investigation explores how schools as well as parental contexts contribute to racial identity development. Results indicated the importance of parents, schools and other significant institutions as racial socialization agents as well as their influence on specific identity-related processes. Educational implications for findings are also discussed.     

美国家庭学校的兴起及其特征分析

近20年来家庭学校运动在美国崛起,对现行办学体制形成巨大的冲击.家庭学校之所以能迎合社会的需要和民众的青睐,就在于其固有的特征,以及由这些特征酿成的独特的办学优势.本文从家庭学校的人员结构、家庭背景和教学运作三方面对这一特征和优势进行了剖析.     

Uncontrolled Destinies: Improving Opportunity for Low-Income Students in American Higher Education

Recognizing the current administration’s focus on improving postsecondary access, this study examines resource allocation patterns and the predictive power of these resources in increasing the likelihood of 2- and 4-year college enrollment among low-income students. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study, college choice decision-making is conceptualized in relation to an individual’s habitus and capital deficiency theory. The results reveal significant differences in the availability and predictive power of various forms of capital across enrollment classifications. The study concludes with implications for administrators and policymakers interested in improving access for low-income students.     

Physical Discipline Use and Child Behavior Problems in Low-Income,High-Risk African American Families

This article has been retracted.     

African American Othermothering in the Urban Elementary School

Othermothering and community othermothering can be defined as African American women's maternal assistance offered to the children of blood mothers within the African American community. Originally traced to slavery, othermothering was a survival mechanism that served as a vehicle for educational and cultural transmission. Currently, an othermothering tradition exists within the urban elementary-school context, and African American female educators play an integral role in fulfilling the pyschoeducational needs of the urban child. By employing a qualitative methodology, this article presents two biographical portraits that examine othermothering by a young elementary-school principal and community othermothering by a fifth-grade elementary-school teacher with 25 years of experience in the urban classroom.     

Beyond Passion: Maximizing on Lessons Learned to Better Serve African American Males

A passion to ensure the educational and life success of all children, particularly young African American men, has propelled my work for all of my professional life. Although following one's passion can make for a fulfilling life, passion is not enough to create a successful and sustainable nonprofit organization. Like many leaders in the field, my passion is serving children, and so the skills needed to effectively grow and lead an organization came second. In the over two decades I've been in this industry I've learned a few key lessons along the way that have helped the organizations I have founded get to the place we are today. But throughout the ups and downs the stories of our scholars’ success have always sustained us.     

Developmental Transactions Between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement Among Low-Income African American and Latino Children

This study examined the development of emerging self-regulation (SR) skills across the preschool years and relations to academic achievement in kindergarten and first grade. SR skills of 403 low-income African American and Latino children were measured at 2&1/2, 3&1/2, and 5 years (kindergarten). Reading and math skills were measured at 5 and 6 years (first grade) using the Woodcock–Johnson. Transactional relations between SR skills and achievement outcomes were estimated with latent difference score models. Increases in set shifting predicted prospective increases in reading, but not math scores. Increases in simple response inhibition predicted prospective increases in math, but not reading scores. Application of these findings to early intervention programming and needed supports for school readiness and achievement are discussed.     

Early Intervention and Mediating Processes in Cognitive Performance of Children of Low-Income African American Families

This longitudinal study of 161 African American children from low-income families examined multiple influences, including early childhood interventions and characteristics of the child and family, on longitudinal patterns of children's cognitive performance measured between 6 months and 8 years of age. Results indicate that more optimal patterns of cognitive development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive stimulating care at home, and higher maternal IQ. In accordance with a general systems model, analyses also suggested that child care experiences were related to better cognitive performance in part through enhancing the infant's responsiveness to his or her environment. Maternal IQ had both a direct effect on cognitive performance during early childhood and, also, an indirect effect through its influence on the family environment.     

Correlates and Consequences of Spanking and Verbal Punishment for Low-Income White, African American, and Mexican American Toddlers

This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race/ethnicity. Child fussiness at age 1 predicted spanking and verbal punishment at all 3 ages. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated that spanking (but not verbal punishment) at age 1 predicted child aggressive behavior problems at age 2 and lower Bayley mental development scores at age 3. Neither child aggressive behavior problems nor Bayley scores predicted later spanking or verbal punishment. In some instances, maternal race/ethnicity and/or emotional responsiveness moderated the effects of spanking and verbal punishment on child outcomes.     

Economically Disadvantaged Urban Female Students Who Achieve in Schools

Recently, researchers at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented completed a three-year study of thirty-five economically disadvantaged, ethnically diverse, talented high school students who either achieved or underachieved in their urban high school. In this article, the results are discussed of the case study analysis of nine high-achieving female students who participated in the larger three-year study. Qualitative methods were used to examine the perceptions of students, teachers, and administrators about the reasons that some academically talented students achieve at high levels. Female students who achieved in school acknowledged the importance of being grouped together in honors and advanced classes for academically talented students, and of receiving support and encouragement from each other and from supportive adults, including teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and mentors. Females who achieved in school participated in multiple extracurricular activities both after school and during the summer. Most high-achieving females in this study chose not to date in order to be able to concentrate their energies on their studies. They also had a strong belief in self and were resilient about negative aspects of their families and their environment. Although parents of students in this study cared deeply about their children, their involvement in their children's high school education was minimal.     

Urban African American Children's Prerogative at Home and School

The study replicates a previous investigation done with middle class children to examine their conceptions of prerogative and restriction, Weber (1999). For the present study, forty nine first, third and fifth grade children who were primarily African American, were drawn from two public schools in a small aging midwestern industrial city. They participated in two interviews which elicited responses concerning personal prerogative at home and school. The children identified areas of prerogative in both settings. They distinguished between personal and conventional issues at school. Children's claims to prerogative appeared to increase with age, as did the amount of disagreement and conflict over such issues. There appeared to be a flattening out of opportunity at school however, that did not occur at home. Unlike the middle class sample, these children sometimes used prudential and punishment reasoning to justify restrictions. Direct responses from the children clearly indicated that school should be different from home in prerogative offered them. They appeared to accept more narrow and rigid boundaries at school with little reservation. The totality of the children's responses, however, suggests the possibility of more complex attitudes. The flattening of provision at school, combined with some presence of punishment reasoning, suggests that there may be some interesting differences in approach between middle class and working class schools.     

美国学校的服务学习运动述评

本主要介绍美国学校所开展的“服务学习”的概念，发展现状，原则，对社会，个人，学校等各方面影响，高质量的计算和标准，以及“服务学习”的特色，希望对我国中小学及大学的教育能有所借鉴。     

Religious Development in African American Adolescents: Growth Patterns That Offer Protection

Although religiosity promotes resilient outcomes in African American (AA) adolescents, there is a lack of research that examines the protective role of religious development in the context of stressful life events (SLEs). In 1,595 AA adolescents, a cohort-sequential design was used from ages 12 to 18 to examine subtypes of religiosity, as well as distinct developmental patterns within subtypes. The protective role of religious development was also examined in the context of SLEs. The study findings indicated two subtypes of religiosity—extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity—as well as low and high developmental patterns in the identified subtypes. Furthermore, the protective influence of extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity gradually diminished from age 12 to 18 in the context of SLEs.     

Effects of Parent Implemented Visual Schedule Routines for African American Children with ASD in Low-Income Home Settings

Low-income, minority families are underrepresented in the literature on parent training for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the use of visual supports, such as visual schedules, is considered to be an evidence-based practice for children with ASD in school, it is not known whether this strategy is effective for minority, low-income families when implemented by the parent in the home setting. This study used a multiple-baseline across routines design replicated across two African American child-mother dyads to examine the effects of a parent-implemented visual schedule procedure on child independent schedule use and between-activity transitions. Parent participants were trained to implement a visual schedule intervention during home routines. Although a functional relation was demonstrated across routines for one mother-child dyad, results varied across participants, highlighting the importance of treatment fidelity. Implications for future research, including the challenges involved in parent-implemented interventions in low-income settings for minority children with ASD, are addressed.