In the last decade there has been a surge in research centered on Black girls' schooling experiences. Few studies, however, employ a culturally relevant framework to unpack the distinct realities Black girls encounter based on the intersection of race and gender. In this study the tenets of Black Feminist Theory are operationalized to examine the…

Montessori programs are expanding in public schools, serving a large proportion of African American students. Although recent Montessori research has focused on diverse public school populations, few studies have examined outcomes for African American students at the lower elementary level. This quasi-experimental study compares reading and math…

This cross-sectional, participatory study investigated the sense of community, which refers to attitude of shared communion and unity among members of a group, among administrators and teachers at predominantly African American public high schools in a large urban county in Florida. This study was guided by an impetus of collective action toward…

Policymakers have refocused attention on the school readiness of low-income, African American children. Yet, preschools, elementary schools, and families often differ in their beliefs about salient abilities. The degree of alignment among teachers and parents influences how successfully children make the transition to kindergarten. Focusing on one…

Although scholarly debates about what should be expected of Black male teachers are increasing in a landscape where they represent around 2%, understanding how a Black male teacher talks about his culturally responsive practices and what he actually does in the classroom with his students in an urban context provides potentially transferable…

Using data from a multi-year study of eleven low-performing high schools, Cooper and Davis examine the academic aspirations and motivations of urban African American high school students in California. Situating their discussion within the context of neoliberalism and its manifestation in urban school reform and community cohesion, the authors…

This study explored how the Black parent-daughter relationship might serve as a vehicle by which the girls come to know, submit to, and/or resist the stereotypical images prevalent in the cultural movement of hip-hop. By exploring the relationship dynamics and levels of dialogue between seven African American adolescent girls and their parent it…

The academic underperformance of African American students continues to limit their academic, career, and life opportunities. Consequently, many urban school districts have implemented single-sex instructional programs in an effort to better address the schooling needs of African Americans. This study's purpose was to evaluate to what extent the…

This article reports on one teacher's year-long project seeking to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline through class dialogue around gang affiliations. The review of literature defines the school-to-prison pipeline and its connections to gang affiliation. The study engaged methods of qualitative action research with seven male participants…

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,…

Youth homelessness is a distressing trend in the United States (U.S.). In 2013, more than one million homeless students were enrolled in the U.S. public school system. The District of Columbia, the nation's capital, is also experiencing a surge in the number of homeless youth. In April 2015, one in every twenty-four students attending the District…

The study is one of few to examine how living in rural, suburban, or urban settings may alter factors supporting African Americans adolescents' math performance. The study examines the relationship of math self-concept and perceptions of friends' academic behaviors to African American students' math performance. Participants (N = 1,049) are…

This phenomenological investigation examines the perceptions of the teaching profession as a viable career option by high-achieving high school-aged African American boys. Researchers used random sampling to identify high schools in one large urban school district and criterion sampling to examine the perceptions of 63 African American 11th-grade…

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,…

This article offers an alternative perspective on educational leadership based on the tenets of critical spirituality. It offers an educational leadership grounded in critical theory and African American spirituality. The two coalesce to provide school leaders with a conceptual frame that not only centers on academic achievement but academic…