White Teachers’ Reactions to the Racial Treatment of Middle-School Black Boys

For many Black boys, poor academic performance and high rates of school discipline are often related to biases in how they are perceived and treated at school. These biases oftentimes misalign with how Black boys view themselves and how family members perceive them at home. Few studies examine how different stakeholders’ perceptions of Black boys manifest and shape the middle school experience. The current study employed an embedded case study design, using data from eight semi-structured interviews to explore incongruence among student, teacher, and parent perceptions of two middle school Black boys’ academic and social experiences. Findings showed greater congruence between the boys’ experiences and their parents’ perceptions of them compared to their teachers’ perceptions of them. Of note were teachers’ inaccurate reports of the boys’ career aspirations and academic interests and abilities. Implications of these patterns and their impact on Black boys’ experiences in school are discussed.

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“Sometimes I Wish I Was a Girl, ’Cause They Do Shit Like Cry”: An Exploration Into Black Boys’ Thinking About Emotions

Urban Education ◽

10.1177/0042085920933327 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 004208592093332

Author(s):

Johari Harris ◽

Ann C. Kruger ◽

Edward Scott

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Urban Schools ◽

Social Emotional Learning ◽

Black Boys ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Social Success ◽

Developmental Framework ◽

Urban Middle School ◽

And Control

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is important for academic and social success, yet responsive SEL for Black youth remains underexamined. The current study analyzed focus groups to investigate how Black boys ( N = 10) in an urban middle school think about emotion and its regulation. Results revealed that participants negotiate tension between emotion expression and control; they argued that inhibition of emotions in public was essential, but they desired greater emotional freedom. We interpret these patterns through the developmental framework of accommodation and resistance. We discuss implications and the need for transformative SEL in urban schools serving Black boys.

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Relational Teaching with Black Boys: Strategies for Learning at a Single-Sex Middle School for Boys of Color

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811611800608 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 118 (6) ◽

pp. 1-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joseph Derrick Nelson

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Teaching Strategies ◽

The United States ◽

Black Boys ◽

School Site ◽

Student Relationships ◽

Teacher Student Relationships ◽

Single Sex ◽

Teacher Student ◽

Boys Of Color

Background/Context Positive teacher-student relationships are critical for Black boys’ learning across single-sex and coeducational environments. Limited attention to these relationships by school professionals is rooted in deficit-oriented conceptions of boyhood and Black masculinity. The popular message of deficiency and pathology is clear: Black boys and men are either dangerous or at-risk and need to be saved. Such narrow conceptions are destructive, operate unconsciously, skew teachers’ perceptions of who boys are, and distort teachers’ efforts to meet boys’ distinct learning needs. A “boy crisis” in U.S. education has been characterized by a set of distressing school outcomes in specific learning categories. Racial marginalization and poverty only serve to exacerbate these negative academic outcomes, whereby low-income Black boys remain in the bottom quartile across all achievement measures. Scholars have recently begun to partly attribute boys’ underachievement to a lack of emphasis on the relational dimension of schools. Purpose/Focus of the Study (1) Illustrate how a set of relational teaching strategies supported Black boys’ engagement and learning, and (2) further contribute boys’ “voice” to a counternarrative, which strives to complicate and dispel negative race and gender stereotypes associated with Black males in the United States. Setting/Population/Participants This study employs a relational teaching framework to examine the learning relationships among teachers and a full cohort of eighth-grade Black boys (N = 27) at a single-sex middle school for boys of color in New York City. Research Design/Data Collection In-depth interviews from a critical ethnography conducted at the school-site (2011–2012) culled boys’ narratives of their teacher-student relationships. Findings/Discussion Boys particularly expressed how teachers must foremost convey mastery of course content, with a lucid set of humane behavioral expectations. Narratives from the boys revealed how relationally effective teachers consistently enacted the following gestures: reaching out and go beyond; personal advocacy; establishing common ground; and accommodating opposition. Teachers demonstrated the capacity to acquire and refine relational gestures, but relationship struggles among the boys and their teachers were commonplace. Core findings include: (a) Boys illuminated how specific aspects of the school context facilitated successful enactment of the relational teaching strategies by teachers; (b) teachers’ use of the relational strategies was also facilitated by the social categories of race, gender, and class the boys embodied; (c) boys’ engagement and learning benefitted from positive teacher–student relationships, which ensued after effective use of the relational teaching strategies; and (d) relational teaching with Black boys is not limited to either single-sex or coeducational learning environments.

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Adolescent Students Who Stutter: A Qualitative Exploration of School Experiences

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2019_persp-19-00085 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 1327-1336

Author(s):

Tiffany R. Cobb ◽

Derek E. Daniels ◽

James Panico

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Middle School ◽

Peer Relationships ◽

Speech Therapy ◽

School Setting ◽

Image Data ◽

School Experiences ◽

Adolescent Students ◽

Therapy Decision ◽

Qualitative Phenomenological

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which adolescent students who stutter perceive their school experiences. Method This study used a qualitative, phenomenological research design. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 7 adolescent students who stutter (3 in middle school and 4 in high school). Participants were interviewed about their school experiences, including the effects of stuttering on academics, learning, teacher relationships, peer relationships, speech therapy experiences, and self-image. Data analysis consisted of transcribing interviews and analyzing them for emerging themes. Results Findings revealed that participants described a variety of experiences around the school setting. Participants reported less favorable middle school experiences. Middle school participants reflected more on teasing, bullying, and feelings of embarrassment, whereas high school participants revealed that teachers, staff, and peers were receptive and accepting of them and their stuttering. All participants reported that their speech therapy helped with classroom participation. Conclusions As a result of the participants' varied experiences, it is important to listen to and incorporate the voices of students who stutter into school, classroom, and therapy decision-making practices.

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The Effect of Vocabulary Intervention on Text Comprehension: Who Benefits?

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-voia-18-0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 562-578 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dawna Duff

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Reading Comprehension ◽

Text Comprehension ◽

Classroom Instruction ◽

Vocabulary Instruction ◽

Clinical Intervention ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Vocabulary Intervention ◽

The Mean ◽

The Difference

Purpose Vocabulary intervention can improve comprehension of texts containing taught words, but it is unclear if all middle school readers get this benefit. This study tests 2 hypotheses about variables that predict response to vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: gains in vocabulary knowledge due to treatment and pretreatment reading comprehension scores. Method Students in Grade 6 ( N = 23) completed a 5-session intervention based on robust vocabulary instruction (RVI). Knowledge of the semantics of taught words was measured pre- and posttreatment. Participants then read 2 matched texts, 1 containing taught words (treated) and 1 not (untreated). Treated texts and taught word lists were counterbalanced across participants. The difference between text comprehension scores in treated and untreated conditions was taken as a measure of the effect of RVI on text comprehension. Results RVI resulted in significant gains in knowledge of taught words ( d RM = 2.26) and text comprehension ( d RM = 0.31). The extent of gains in vocabulary knowledge after vocabulary treatment did not predict the effect of RVI on comprehension of texts. However, untreated reading comprehension scores moderated the effect of the vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: Lower reading comprehension was associated with greater gains in text comprehension. Readers with comprehension scores below the mean experienced large gains in comprehension, but those with average/above average reading comprehension scores did not. Conclusion Vocabulary instruction had a larger effect on text comprehension for readers in Grade 6 who had lower untreated reading comprehension scores. In contrast, the amount that children learned about taught vocabulary did not predict the effect of vocabulary instruction on text comprehension. This has implications for the identification of 6th-grade students who would benefit from classroom instruction or clinical intervention targeting vocabulary knowledge.

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