The Color of Success 2.0

Gilberto Q. Conchas is the Wayne K. and Anita Woolfolk Hoy Endowed Chair of Education at The Pennsylvania State University. His books include Race Frames in Education: Structuring Inequality and Opportunity in a Changing Society, coedited with Sophia Rodriguez.

Contents


Foreword to the 1st Edition  vii


Foreword to the 2nd Edition  xi


Preface  xv


Acknowledgments  xix


Introduction: Race and Transformative Pathways to High-Achieving Urban Youth  1

The OG: The Color of Success  2

The Color of Success 2.0: New Research, Emerging Research, and Praxis  3

Minimizing Inequity and Promoting Opportunity  5

Semantic Conventions  6

Case Study Research Approach and Design  7

On My Subjectivity as a Chicana/o/x Researcher  11

Organization of this Book  14


1.  A Critical Perspective of the Challenges Confronting Students of Color: Toward a Conceptual Framework of Transformative Urban School Pathways  18

Issues Associated With Educational Inequity  19

Cultural-Ecological Explanations of Low Academic Performance Among Racially Minoritized Students  21

Complicating the Cultural Ecological Framework  24

School Processes and Engagement Among Students of Color  25

The Student Voice of High-Achieving Minoritized Youth  27

Confronting Segregation and Stereotypes  28

Valuing Minoritized Students’ Experiences to Promote Urban School Success  30

Conclusion  30


2.  Balkanization in Urban School Spaces: Integrated and Segregated Organizational Cultures and Structures Side-by-Side  32

Racial Segregation, Engagement, and Performance  33

Baldwin High School as the Case Study Setting  33

Why a California High School?  35

The General School Climate as Perceived by Teachers and Students  36

Non-Belonging Student Perceptions of the General School Pathway  38

The College and Career Academies  41

Mediating Distinct Peer Relations  50

Conclusion  51


3.  “We Just Make the Best of What We Have”: Immigrant and U.S-Born Vietnamese American Youth Surfing the “Model Minority” Wave of Success  52

Background on Asian American Student Achievement  53

Vietnamese Origin Students at Baldwin High School  56

Gender and the Construction of Student Ability  58

Academic Identity Groups among High-Achieving Vietnamese Students  59

Understanding the “Model Minority” Stereotype  59

Structuring Competition Versus Collaborative Learning  61

Benefiting from the “Model Minority” Typology  62

Conclusion  64


4.  “I Want to Make a Difference”: Understanding Immigrant and U.S.- Born Latina/o/x Students’ Variability in Academic Aspirations, School Engagement, and Optimism  66

Background on Latina/o/x School Achievement  67

School Opportunity Structure and Racial Perceptions  68

Identity Formation Among Latina/o/x Students  70

Responses of High-Achieving Latina/o/x Students  71

Creating Optimism Despite Inequity Among Medical Academy Latina/o/xs  77

Conclusion  79


5.  “Nothing Can Stop Me Now”: Constructing Black Student Aspirations, Expectations, and School Success  81

Background on Black Student Achievement  81

The Situation at Baldwin High School  84

The Academy Experience at Baldwin High School  88

A Closer Look at Black Males, Aspirations, and Expectations  93

A Closer Look at Black Females, Aspirations, and Expectations  96

Conclusion  98


6.  “(Obama) Becomin’ President Kinda Raise the Bar on What You’re Doin’ ”: Perceptions of Opportunity and Constraining Aspirations Among Black Male Youth During a Time of Historic Change  101

Oppositional Culture as Institutional Phenomenon  103

Historical Significance of the Election of Barack Obama  104

Promoting Academic Achievement for Students of Color  105

The Palmview Male Cooperative  107

PMC Students on Social Mobility, Racial Inequality, and Marginalization  109

The PMC as a Source of Social Capital, Cultural Capital, and Brotherhood  114

The PMC and Academic Achievement  122

Conflicting and Constraining Student Perspectives on Aspirations  123

How Can We Explain This Perplexing Phenomenon?  126

Conclusion  129


7.  Institutional Change Agents: Student-Centered Approaches, Culture Shifts, and the Construction of Pathways for Urban School Success  131

College and Career Academies as Small Learning Communities  134

Unraveling School Success’s Approach to Providing TA  136

Overview of School Success  137

School Success and Technical Assistance  137

Why and How School Success Promotes the Four Pillars of Linked Learning  141

Discussion of School Success’s Current State and Future in the School Change Landscape  149

Conclusion  153


8.  “We Are Like a Family . . . We Know Each Other Well and Get Along”: Teacher and Peer Relationships as (Pre)conditions for the Potential Realization of Social Capital  155

Preconditions for the Realization of Social Capital  157

Time Students Spend on Homework Outside of School  160

A Novel Approach for Examining Familial and School Preconditions for Social Capital  160

Findings From the Data in Five Steps  166

Conclusion  177


9.  Racial Inequity and Transformative Educational Pathways Informing Policy and Praxis: Wrapping It all Up  180

Institutional Processes, Social Support Systems, and School Success  181

Student Ideology, Institutional Mechanisms, and Social Support Systems  182

Summary of the Key Findings and Policy Recommendations  186

Implications for Further Research  190

Policy and Praxis Limitations  191

Conclusion  193


References  195


Index  213


About the Author  220