Schooling Students Placed at Risk: Research, Policy, and Practice in the Education of Poor and Minority Adolescents

by Sanders, Mavis G.; Jordan, Will J.

• ISBN13: 9780805830897
• ISBN10: 0805830898
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

This book examines historical approaches and current research and practice related to the education of adolescents placed at risk of school failure as a result of social and economic conditions. One major goal is to expand the intellectual exchange among researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and concerned citizens on factors influencing the achievement of poor and minority youth, specifically students in middle and high schools. Another is to encourage increased dialogue about policies and practices that can make a difference in educational opportunities and outcomes for these students. Although the chapters in this volume are not exhaustive, they represent an array of theoretical and methodological approaches that provide readers with new and diverse ways to think about issues of educational equality and opportunity in the United States. A premise that runs through each chapter is that school success is possible for poor and minority adolescents if adequate support from the school, family, and community is available. *The conceptual approach (Section I) places the research and practice on students placed at risk in a historical context and sets the stage for an important reframing of current definitions, research, policies, and practices aimed at this population. *Multiple research methodologies (Sections II and III) allow for comparisons across racial and ethnic groups as well as within groups, and contribute to different and complementary insights. Section III, "Focus on African-American Students," specifically addresses gender and social class differences among African-American adolescents. *Current reform strategies presently being implemented in schools throughout the United States are presented and discussed (Part IV). These strategies or programs highlight how schools, families, and communities can apply research findings like the ones this book presents, thus bridging the often wide gap between social science research and educational practice.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
A. Wade Boykin
Preface: Research, Policy and Practice in the Education of Poor and Minority Adolescents	xv
Mavis G. Sanders
I: REFRAMING STUDENTS PLACED AT RISK: A HISTORICAL LOOK
Students at Promise and Resilient: A Historical Look at Risk	3	(14)
William Franklin
Historical Trends in Federal Education Policies That Target Students Placed at Risk	17	(20)
Antoinette Mitchell
Why do so Many Urban Public School Students Demonstrate so Little Academic Achievement?	37	(28)
Robert Balfanz
II: FACTORS INFLUENCING RESILIENCY AND SCHOOL FAILURE
Student-Teacher Relations and Academic Achievement in High School	65	(18)
Mavis G. Sanders
Will J. Jordan
Talent Loss Among High-Achieving Poor Students	83	(26)
Will J. Jordan
Stephen B. Plank
Unpacking the Black Box of Tracking Decisions: Critical Tales of Families Navigating the Course Placement Process	109	(32)
Susan S. Yonezawa
III: FOCUS ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS
Gender and the Effects of School, Family, and Church Support on the Academic Achievement of African-American Urban Adolescents	141	(22)
Mavis G. Sanders
Jerald R. Herting
African-American Teachers and the Roles They Play	163	(24)
Antoinette Mitchell
African-American Student Success in Independent Schools: A Model of Family, School, and Peer Influences	187	(20)
Robert Cooper
Amanda Datnow
Creating a Climate for Diversity? The Institutional Response of Predominantly White Independent Schools to African-American Students	207	(6)
Amanda Datnow
Robert Cooper
IV: FROM RESEARCH TO PRACTICE
Toward an Understanding of School Reconstitution as a Strategy to Educate Students Placed at Risk	213	(48)
Heinrich Mintrop
Talent Development Middle Schools: Blueprints and Results for a Comprehensive Whole-School Reform Model	261	(28)
Douglas J. MacIver
Martha A. MacIver
Robert Balfanz
Stephen B. Plank
Allen Ruby
Fostering Resilience in High School Classrooms: A Study of the PASS Program (Promoting Achievement in School Through Sport)	289	(20)
Crystal McClendon
Saundra Murray Nettles
Allan Wigfield
Small Learning Communities Meet School-to-Work: Whole School Restructuring for Urban Comprehensive High Schools	309	(30)
Nettie E. Legters
Building School-Family-Community Partnerships in Middle and high Schools	339	(24)
Mavis G. Sanders
Joyce L. Epstein
Conclusion: Effective Schooling for Poor and Minority Adolescents: Refining the Focus	363	(6)
Mavis G. Sanders
Author Index	369	(10)
Subject Index	379