Disproportionate discipline, also known as the discipline gap, is the result of the frequent occurrence of punitive or exclusionary discipline measures. It represents a flaw in the educational system that negatively disrupts the African American student population more than any other demographic. This form of punishment removes students from the…

Using data on ninth graders, math teachers, and schools from the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we investigate the following questions: (1) How do ninth graders' perceptions of their math teachers as equitable relate to their math identity at the intersection of adolescents' race and gender? and (2) Do…

Contemporarily Australian Indigenous peoples are portrayed by white Australians according to deficit understandings. As well as being inaccurate, this depiction, as part of a long-term civilising process, is an expression of 'fantasy-laden thinking' [Mennell, S., & Goudsblom, J. (1998). Introduction. In S. Mennell & J. Goudsblom (Eds.),…

This autoethnographic study explored my academic experiences as a first-generation Afghan woman within the American education system. A finite lens was used to review detailed narratives from sixth grade through the present day. The guiding question for this study was: How have my experiences as a first-generation Afghan woman facilitated or…

Stereotype threat has been shown to have deleterious impacts on the short- and long-term academic performance and psychological well-being of racial and ethnic minority students. Psychological variables related to this identity threat represent significant sources of achievement and attainment gaps relative to nonstereotyped Asian and white…

This paper examines the process by which stereotypical mainstream representations of black males (as hard, as anti-school, and as disconnected from the domestic sphere) were reimagined in all-black, all-male manhood development classes for 9th graders in urban public high schools. Findings show that instructors debunked stereotypes and created new…

Drawing on qualitative research with adolescent youth of color, this paper imagines the power and potential of informal youth-driven spaces in schools as sites of emotional safety and rebellion. Calling upon Hochshild's (1979) conceptualization of the social regulation of emotions, we examine the racialized and gendered feeling rules that govern…

Imagery and sounds from television, film, music, the Internet, and other media bombard American youth; dictating to them how they should act, think, or what they should believe. They often do not realize that they find much of their identity and belief systems in messages put forth to them by popular culture (Du Gay 1997; Hall 1997). Young people…

We examine how Black high school students, participants in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program, understand issues of racial discrimination and inequality in their schools. Through semi-structured individual interviews conducted early in the program, eight students (six boys and two girls) recount experiences of racial…

Studies of when youth classify academic achievement in racial terms have focused on the racial classification of behaviors and individuals. However, institutions--including schools--may also be racially classified. Drawing on a comparative interview study, we examine the school contexts that prompt urban black students to classify schools in…