The summer between high school and college as a point of intervention to help more students successfully transition from the K-12 sector to higher education is gaining notice. This qualitative study builds on recent research on the "summer melt" and offers a fresh perspective of students from an urban Los Angeles public high school who,…

This article asserts the necessity of a twenty-first century movement for achieving excellence with equity. For most of our nation's history, it was taken for granted that academic skill levels among some groups would be lower, on average, than for others. Indeed, a culture of White supremacy maintained a division of labor that relegated people of…

This article explores the Black habitus of African American students and parents by revealing systemic inequalities in their home, school, and community, as well as illuminating the agency and cultural knowledge in their community. Using ethnographic case study data from 38 African American students and 26 parents who lived in a poor Black…

While persistence and completion rates in postsecondary education are on the rise, gaps based on racial/ethnic demographics remain. This is particularly evident at predominately White institutions (PWIs), despite increasing enrollment of African Americans at these institutions. Previous studies have linked psychosocial health of African American…

To gauge the differential attitudes of faculty members toward student-athletes at a large Division I-A university, a revised version of the Situational Attitude Scale (SAS) Student-Athlete was administered to 464 faculty members. Findings revealed differences in the attitudes of faculty toward student-athletes by race, gender, and college…

My apologies to iconic hip-hop artists, De La Soul for I have shamelessly appropriated the title, "Stakes is high" to underscore the importance of the work ahead for educators, students, parents, community members, and researchers as we attempt to develop a generation of what I call "new century" students for a world we can hardly imagine. Through…

National reports recognize a growing gender gap in postsecondary enrollment as a major challenge impacting the lives of young men, particularly African Americans. Previous gender and race specific research is largely inconclusive. It is, for example, unclear from previous research how persistent the gender gap is across various school contexts,…

Allegations and assumptions of fiscal mismanagement at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have existed since their founding and continue today. There is little evidence that these claims, fueled by the media, legislatures, and often accrediting agencies, are actually truer than fiscal mismanagement at predominantly White…

Several theories suggest that African American culture facilitates academic achievement, but others suggest that identifying with Black culture contributes to the achievement gap by undermining the academic performance among youth. These opposing perspectives are labeled "cultural compatibility theories" and "cultural incompatibility theories,"…

Standard setting (the process of establishing minimum passing scores on high-stakes exams) is a highly evaluative and policy-driven process. It is a common belief that standard setting panels should be diverse and representative. There is concern, however, that panelists with varying characteristics may differentially influence the results of the…

Sixty years have passed since the pivotal 1954 Supreme Court case of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" and almost fifty years have elapsed since the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Brown decision dismantled public segregated schools in many parts of the country, especially in the South, and racial access in schools…

Racially minoritized students attending U.S. colleges and universities are often compared to their White peers in research studies, generally emphasizing their cultural deficits, masking minority group achievement, and homogenizing within group variations. This article reports data for racially minoritized students who participated in the national…

This qualitative study examines 26 White middle school teachers' perceptions of their experiences in a predominantly White middle school with a growing African American student population. Utilizing in-depth focus group interviews, teachers elaborated on their experiences with navigating racial, ethnic and cultural boundaries as they attempted to…

There is considerable interest in identifying ways to close the Black-White achievement gap. This study examines race differences in children's participation in after-school programs, an out-of-school time experience that may influence children's achievement. Using nationally representative data spanning 1995-2005, the authors find that African…

Data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction archive are used to assess the joint effect of race and gender on advanced academic (advanced placement and honors) course enrollment within a school district with an open enrollment policy. Using student SAT scores; the authors compare expected levels of advanced course enrollment for…