AFRICAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ …
© 2006 by Laura Jill Taylor. All rights reserved.
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF
TEACHER CARE AND THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
BY
LAURA JILL TAYLOR
B.F.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990
M.S., University of Miami, 1993
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Education in Education
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006
Urbana, Illinois
ABSTRACT
One of the greatest challenges faced by many educational administrators is the improvement of achievement scores for specific groups of students. School improvement efforts characterized by undertakings to provide remedial support, augment parental involvement, increase graduation requirements, raise academic standards, and a variety of other initiatives, may lack an emphasis on teacher care critical to success. The purpose of this study was to discover African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and to understand the potential these perceptions have to impact their academic achievement. This study was guided by the following research questions: (a) What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School, (b) are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School, and (c) are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
A qualitative case study research design incorporating features of case study and essentialist portraiture was employed to gather data necessary to answer the research questions. Twelve low-income students, seven African American and five white, participated in interviews with the researcher. The data from the interviews as well as the personal knowledge the researcher had of some of the participating students was used to create portraits of four African American students. A cross-case analysis of the themes that emerged from all 12 students was conducted.
The findings from this study indicated that there are perceptions of teacher care specific to low-income African American students at Setting High School that have the potential to influence their academic achievement. Themes identified as a result of a cross-case analysis were: (a) teachers’ have low expectations of African American students’ intelligence; (b) teachers’ have a low commitment to African American students’ success; (c) students react to their low perceptions of teacher care; and (d) students who act like they don’t care about their schoolwork receive less teacher care. It is recommended that school improvement efforts at Setting High School incorporate attention to teacher care.
Dedicated to my husband Bill and my children Jillian, Nicholas, and Lindsey
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Kern Alexander, for his guidance in getting this project to completion. I also wish to thank my other committee members Dr. Richard Hunter, Dr. Paul Thurston, and Dr. Klaus Witz for their support throughout this endeavor.
I am grateful for the support of my colleagues that sustained me during the years in post-graduate school that brought me to this point. Dr. John Woodward for his knowledge, patience, and integrity, as he taught me critical aspects of school leadership while at the same time advising me throughout this process. Mrs. Polly Washington, who taught me while in high school and continued to teach me as an administrator. Mr. Justin Lopez for repeating the refrain, “did you get your doctorate yet?” My two research assistants, Ms. Terri Kinsel and Ms. Lori Peete. In addition to Mrs. Ilene Silverman, for her friendship and unwavering support.
I would like to convey my special appreciation to the students of Setting High School who participated in this study. I am very grateful to these remarkable young people who shared their perceptions with me.
Finally, I would like express my deepest gratitude for the constant support, understanding and love that I received from my dear husband Bill. Knowing that he was there for our children Jillian, Nicholas, and Lindsey, eased my concerns about the time commitment required for this study. Kids, you now have mommy back on the weekends!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO STUDY 1
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 3
Researcher Perspective of the Problem 4
Purpose of the Study 8
Research Question 8
Method 10
Delimitations of the Study 10
Limitations of the Study 11
Significance of the Study 13
CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE 15
Introduction 15
Teacher Caring 16
Achievement Gap 34
The Comprehensive High School 60
Conclusion: Review of Literature 82
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 91
Introduction 91
Rationale for Research Approach 91
Research Design 105
Instruments 111
Protection of Human Subjects 114
Conclusion 115
CHAPTER FOUR CRITERIA AND PROCESS FOR
DETERMINING INTERVIEW CANDIDATES 117
Introduction 117
Participant Demographics 118
Questionnaire 118
Determining Perceptions of Teacher Care and Achievement 119
Determining Candidates for Interviews 122
CHAPTER FIVE DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
FROM INTERVIEWS 125
Introduction 125
Essentialist Portraiture 126
Decision Rules for Transcribing Interviews 128
Construction of Themes 129
Portraits 130
Lindsey 130
Nick 140
Jillian 148
Billy 155
Additional Student Participants 165
Cross-Case Analysis 168
Summary of Cross-Case Analysis 191
CHAPTER SIX FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS,
AND IMPLICATIONS 196
Introduction 196
Review of the Study 196
Discussion of Findings 197
Conclusions 206
Recommendations 207
Implications for Practice 220
Closing Remarks 225
REFERENCES 227
APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE 238
APPENDIX B INTERVIEW GUIDE 240
APPENDIX C SAMPLE NOTE CARDS 242
APPENDIX D WORKING PRODUCTS 244
APPENDIX E SCORING TEMPLATE 247
APPENDIX F CONSENT FORMS 249
APPENDIX G LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING 252
APPENDIX H CONTACT INFORMATION 254
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY 256
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION TO STUDY
Introduction
One of the greatest challenges faced by most education administrators in the wake of No Child Left Behind is the improvement of achievement scores for specific groups of students. School improvement efforts characterized by undertakings to provide remedial support, increase parental involvement, increase graduation requirements, raise academic standards, and a variety of other initiatives, may lack an emphasis on teacher care critical to success. An understanding of teacher care and how that care is perceived by and subsequently the potential it has to impact the achievement of African American students may be required to meet the challenges posed by No Child Left Behind.
The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) or NCLB, is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 incorporating principles from President George W. Bush. While No Child Left Behind is quite comprehensive, the major emphasis is on greater accountability, student/parent choice, and flexibility of funding. States, school districts, and schools are required to establish standards that must be met by all students by 2014, with all 3-8 graders being tested in math and reading and all eleventh graders being tested in several core academic areas. In order to “leave no child behind” assessments are disaggregated to present performance data according to race, special education services, socioeconomic status, gender and English as a second language. All subgroups must meet No Child Left Behind’s established annual yearly progress (AYP). If a school is not able to meet annual yearly progress by a certain date, it is deemed low achieving and could face corrective measures. The act also provides parents, especially those from low achieving schools, a choice of another school if theirs does not meet the standards. Additionally there is greater flexibility for districts and states in terms of federal grants and how they are allocated. Specifically, states and districts have the option of allocating up to 50% of federal formula-grant funds they receive under four major state grant programs to any one of the programs, or to the Title I Program - Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged. The four covered programs include Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools. No Child Left Behind gives states flexibility in designing state specific standards of what students should know and be able to do in the core content areas of reading, math, and science. The act provides states with the additional flexibility of designing state specific standard aligned tests to measure adequate yearly progress in the identified core content areas.
No Child Left Behind impacts almost every major decision made in America’s public schools. Admittedly controversial with the taste of top down government involvement, to state that No Child Left Behind has not made positive contributions to the public school system would be biased and naive. What No Child Left Behind has done is to reintroduce to America the issue of educational inequity and force those responsible for educating America’s children to look at their practices with an eye toward closing the achievement gap.
Statement of the Problem
The academic achievement gap and its subsequent identification of inequitable educational opportunities for particular populations of students is a serious problem evident in many American schools. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has consistently provided the field with data identifying a gap between the achievement of African American students and their white counterparts. Well understood within the literature is the belief that there is a complex blend of societal, home, and school factors that create and perpetuate the achievement gap (Kober, 2001). A strong correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement has been established (Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003) which has particular significance as African American families have higher rates of poverty when compared to white families (Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002). A multitude of in-school factors such as disparities in resources and teacher qualifications, curriculum and course enrollment patterns, school climate, and racism and institutional practices have been identified that either create or enable the continuance of achievement gaps (College Board, 1999; Denbo, 2002; Irvine, 1990; Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003; Osterman & Freese, 2000, Reynolds, 2002).
An additional in-school factor is the relationship between teachers tending to have lower expectations for African American students than their white counterparts and the subsequent manifestation of these lower expectations into differential treatment of African American students (Denbo, 2002; Ferguson, 1998; Good & Brophy, 1991; Haycock, 2001; Osterman & Freese, 2000; Reynolds, 2002). Minority students tend to be treated differently and experience a different educational environment than white students (Majors, 2001; Reynolds, 2002). This combination of differential treatment with the research supporting the tremendous impact the teacher has on the academic achievement of students (Barton, 2003; Darling-Hammond, 1995; Marzano, 2003) and with the fact that minority and low-income students are disproportionately taught by teachers from less selective colleges, fail more certification tests, and have less teaching experience (Robelen, 2002) assists in supporting the continuation of academic achievement gaps.
There is a broad agreement in the literature that there is a definite need to close the achievement gap for minority and low income students (Bennet et al., 2004; College Board, 1999; Irvine, 1990; McGee, 2003; Miller, 2003). Additionally, there is a call for extensive and continued research in support of ways to address the issue at various levels and across a multitude of educational and societal domains (Barton, 2003; Ferguson, 1998; Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003) as there is a belief that progress will not be made unless there is a simultaneous, continuing commitment from national, state, and local policymakers as well as community leaders, educators, students, and the private sector (Alson, 2003; Bennet et al., 2004; Caroll, Fulton, Abercrombie, & Yoon, 2004; Kober, 2001; College Board, 1999; Miller, 2003).
Researcher Perspective of the Problem
As an assistant principal at an urban mid-western comprehensive high school, this researcher along with colleagues faces the challenge of not only improving the achievement scores of identifiable subgroups on the State assessment used to report for NCLB, but also ensuring that all students have equal educational opportunities. The Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) is the state assessment administered annually to all juniors as a means of assessing reading, mathematics, writing, science, and social studies performance levels relative to the State Learning Standards. PSAE performance data from the 2003, 2004, and 2005 administration shows that the white students at this researcher’s school, identified for the purposes of this study as Setting High School (SHS), and across the state are outperforming African American students in all academic areas (see Table 1).
Table 1
Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE)
| |2003 |2004 |2005 |
|Subject |SHS |State |SHS |State |SHS |State |
| | | | | | | |
|Reading | | | | | | |
| Black, non-Hispanic |0.283 |0.312 |0.39 |0.318 |0.319 |0.351 |
| White, non-Hispanic |0.669 |0.647 |0.805 |0.654 |0.777 |0.678 |
| | | | | | | |
|Mathematics | | | | | | |
| Black, non-Hispanic |0.117 |0.205 |0.234 |0.206 |0.213 |0.186 |
| White, non-Hispanic |0.617 |0.627 |0.728 |0.625 |0.655 |0.634 |
| | | | | | | |
|Writing | | | | | | |
| Black, non-Hispanic |0.15 |0.308 |0.325 |0.334 |– |– |
| White, non-Hispanic |0.65 |0.678 |0.752 |0.679 |– |– |
| | | | | | | |
|Science | | | | | | |
| Black, non-Hispanic |0.119 |0.173 |0.312 |0.201 |0.271 |0.185 |
| White, non-Hispanic |0.591 |0.614 |0.722 |0.628 |0.708 |0.634 |
| | | | | | | |
|Social Science | | | | | | |
| Black, non-Hispanic |0.181 |0.247 |0.377 |0.275 |– |– |
| White, non-Hispanic |0.645 |0.653 |0.774 |0.687 |– |– |
Note. Values indicate the percentage of students that meet or exceed state standards. Dashes indicate the students were not assessed.
Additionally at Setting High School, African American students are under-represented in the weighted and advanced placement classes, are over-represented in special education and remedial classes, and constitute a disproportionate amount of discipline referrals ranging from the mundane to extremely serious. During the 2004-2005 school year, African American students comprised 28.6% of the total student enrollment. However, 42.7% of students receiving special education services were African American, 67.1% of students in the lower level English courses were African American, 56.3% of students in the lower level math courses were African American, 51.7% of students in the lower level science courses were African American, and 9.5% of students enrolled in one or more weighted or advanced placement courses were African American. African American students made up 65% of the out of school suspensions and generated 49% of the total number of discipline referrals. During the 2003-2004 school year, African American students comprised 30.5% of the student enrollment. However, 66% of all students receiving an in-school or out-of-school suspension were African American and 68.1% of all students receiving discipline referrals were African American.
Demonstrated in Table 1, as well, is the increase in academic achievement made by students at Setting High School in all five areas from the 2003 PSAE administration to the 2004 PSAE administration. There was a 12.2% average increase of white students who met or exceeded standards and a 15.8% average increase of African American students who met or exceeded standards. While it appears from this data that the school improvement initiatives are having a positive effect on academic achievement, the data also demonstrates how difficult it is to narrow the achievement gap in this particular setting. When the scores of the African American student population rose, so did the scores of the white students, leaving the gap between the two relatively stable.
This researcher’s professional experiences as an educator have created the opportunity to develop a personal insight into the effectiveness of building relationships with African American high school students. Before becoming an assistant principal, this researcher taught for ten years in special education programs and in an alternative high school, both of which served a predominately African America student population. Throughout this career, an impression was formed that the most success was achieved when caring relationships were created with African American students and when these students knew they were cared for as individuals both inside and outside of the school environment. Not lost to this researcher, as well, is the observation that caring relationships were facilitated in programs or schools that had a much lower student to teacher ratio than the common large comprehensive high school.
When talking to some African American students as part of the daily responsibilities of the current position as assistant principal, this researcher is impressed with what appears to be a belief by some African American students at Setting High School that they are not part of the school learning community, many times having stated that the teachers don’t care about them. Some teachers have reported that some of their African American students show apathy towards learning and will sometimes sit in classes and do nothing. Other teachers have made comments that clearly convey their beliefs that they are only responsible for providing the students with the information, and that they are more than content having a student leave their room if they are not completing assignments. Other teachers who wish to demonstrate acts of caring towards the students have reported that they do not have the time available to them to give the necessary attention to each student. These teachers have stated that the demands of the position such as grading, student loads of 120 or more, and the emphasis on test scores and accountability forces them to neglect elements of teacher care that they deem important.
This researcher’s experiences as a teacher and an administrator, as well as a review of the relevant literature suggests the importance of further understanding the significance of the relationship between teacher care and the academic achievement of African American high school students. Identified by Strauss and Corbin (1990) as theoretical sensitivity, this combination of professional and personal experience, familiarity with applicable literature, as well as access to pertinent data is the impetus for this area of study.
Purpose of the Study
Theoretical sensitivity and the review of literature indicate that teacher caring may play an important role in the academic achievement of African American students. This researcher contends that in this particular educational setting, there is a need to explore that role to address the academic achievement gap. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to discover the importance of increasing the understanding of African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and how these perceptions impact their academic achievement.
Research Question
The implication for doing research within a critical theory framework presented by Conrad, Haworth, and Lattuca (2001) was referenced when determining the research questions for this study. Specifically, the focus on the action of the “Praxis” orientation of the research which is “aimed at bringing together theory and practice in ways that are emancipatory and transformative for individuals” (Conrad et al, 2001, p. 20). Also identifiable from the critical theory framework is the emphasis on the oppressed, in this case the variable of race explicit to African Americans.
Additionally, Maxwell (1996) provided guidance for the construction of the research questions with the focus being the unknown regarding the phenomenon, instead of what is known or presumed known, and by differentiating between instrumentalist and realist questions. Asserting that the influence of the long held social science belief centered upon the positivist view where research operations and objective data must be specifically defined are identifiable in instrumentalist based research questions, Maxwell encourages qualitative researchers to frame research questions in realist terms. He stresses that decisions regarding research question development should be based on what the researcher wants to understand by conducting the study and that by focusing on the perceptions of those studied as opposed to what has happened, is in principle a realist approach. The author contends that the intent of most qualitative studies are to better understand how the perspectives of the participants in the study inform their actions, as well as how the participants make sense of what has occurred, rather then to identify exactly what the participants have or have not experienced.
This study examines African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care in a Midwestern urban comprehensive high school. The central question of the study is, “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School concerning teacher care and could these perceptions affect their academic achievement?” The research questions that will guide this study are:
1. What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School?
2. Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
3. Are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
Method
The approach to this investigation is one of a qualitative case study utilizing interviews, yet the relational interactive nature of this study as well as the need to identify academic performance levels calls for a combination of methods from both qualitative and quantitative traditions. This interplay of both qualitative and quantitative methods is utilized to build an in-depth portrait of the case. Qualitative methods are necessary as they are particularly useful when investigating that which cannot be quantified by statistical measures or other means such as the perceptions of participants regarding their experiences. Quantitative methods are incorporated in the form of grade point averages and survey data elicited from a questionnaire, but data collection techniques traditionally associated with qualitative methods such as interviews are emphasized. The quantitative methods and quantifiable data presented is viewed as a means of stabilizing the foundation of the stories to be told, not conveying their message. Additionally, data collection occurs in a natural setting, information detailing the views of those studied is prominent, and a narrative reporting style is utilized, all of which are hallmarks of qualitative research (Creswell, 1998).
Delimitations of the Study
Delimitations of a study are the contextual specifics that limit the relevancy of the study for all people at any given time in any given place. In a qualitative study, delimitations are factors that restrict researchers from claiming that their findings are true for other populations in other settings (Bryant, 2004). A delimitation of this study is that it focuses on the perceptions of low-income African American students in one particular urban Midwestern high school. This study cannot account for the perceptions of all low-income African American high school students, nor can it account for the perceptions of other students at this particular high school. While this study queries the perceptions of low-income white students at this setting to facilitate the discovery and investigation of perceptions specific to low-income African American students, the study does not focus on the perceptions of the low-income white students. Additionally, the findings from this study may not be attributed to all low-income African American high school students as qualitative research is inherently contextual with the individual researcher acting as an instrument of data collection (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). As with all qualitative studies, it is not possible to generalize the findings (Merriam, 2002) as specific samples are selected purposefully to provide particular insight into the phenomena being studied.
Limitations of the Study
Limitations are the restrictions associated with the particular methods the researcher has chosen to gather and analyze their data (Bryant, 2004). The limitations of this study are restricted to the methodology selected and fall into the three categories of sampling, mailed questionnaires, and interviews.
In terms of sampling, the study is limited to the number of low-income students who returned the survey and to the number of students who agreed to participate in subsequent interviews. While questionnaire responses are analyzed anonymously, purposive sampling is utilized to provide the researcher with a pool of students willing to be interviewed to better inform the investigation. For example, if a questionnaire was returned indicating that the student completing the questionnaire had a low perception of teacher care and it is determined by referencing the student’s records that he or she has a low grade point average, the identity of the student was then disclosed to the researcher. The researcher then made a decision based on purposive sampling as to whether or not this student could provide insight during the interview process. Students who may not have been selected could include students who have had what they perceive to be a negative interaction with the researcher that might impact their ability to trust the researcher during the interview process.
Questionnaires have inherent limitations as their purpose is to ensure high returns and in order to do so they are usually short and non-comprehensive. In order to ensure an adequate return rate from the students, only 16 questions were included in the questionnaire. Short answer or open ended questions were not included and therefore limit the scope of the information provided. As with all non-witnessed questionnaire completion, there is the possibility that someone other than the intended participant completed the questions.
All of the students knowingly agreed to interview with the researcher which could add limitations to the study. As the researcher’s position is one of authority over these students it is possible that they said things during the interview that they believe the researcher wanted to hear, or intentionally withheld information that they believed the researcher did not want to hear. Additionally, the students may have made statements that were purposefully hurtful regarding an individual teacher in hopes that the researcher would take action on the faculty member. The students may have refrained from making statements about a particular faculty member for fear that the researcher would take action.
Significance of the Study
This study is significant as is addresses both the professional responsibilities of school administrators as they attempt to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind (2001), combined with the ethical responsibilities of school administrators as they attempt to identify effective means of ensuring that African American students have the same opportunities for success as their white counterparts.
Even with the existence of major research-based publications touting the importance of addressing the achievement gap (Barton, 2003; Ferguson, 1998; Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003), the highly evident agreement that there is a definite need to raise the achievement of African American students (Irvine, 1990; McGee, 2003), and federal policy mandating that states raise the academic achievement of all students (NCLB, 2001), the achievement gap continues to exist. The possibility exists that efforts to raise standards, provide remedial support, increase parental involvement, hold schools and districts accountable, and the plethora of other initiatives may not be enough to battle both societal and educational forces that perpetuate the academic achievement gap. This study is intended to advance current research that appears to be on the brink of identifying nontraditional means of supporting the achievement of African American students. Care, specifically teacher care, and how that care is perceived by and subsequently impacts African American students may in fact be one of the components school improvement and comprehensive reform efforts are lacking. It is hoped that by giving a voice to African American high school students within a relational framework, within a framework of care, they in turn will provide the field with insights that will inform decisions regarding school improvement efforts, efforts focusing on increasing their academic achievement and narrowing the achievement gap. The results of this study are intended to extend the understanding about low-income African American students’ perceptions of teacher care and their academic achievement. It is hoped that the results will provide educational leaders at Setting High School the ammunition needed to initiate extensive reform efforts based on a relational domain.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
This review of literature explores research in the areas of teacher caring, the academic achievement gap, and the comprehensive high school as they pertain to the present study. The first section of the review investigates teacher caring and seeks to identify the meaning of care in schools, to provide a review of the research on care in schools, and to substantiate the significance of care in schools for African American students. The second section of this review addresses the literature surrounding the academic achievement gap. It provides the reader with examples of the existence of the academic achievement gap, a summary of the conditions that create and perpetuate achievement gaps, and a review of the research and literature geared toward addressing one particular facet of the gap by increasing the academic achievement of African American students. The third portion of this review contains a historical look at the comprehensive high school, a presentation of the literature addressing the concerns about the comprehensive high school as they relate to size and organization, and a review of the current reform initiatives to address the contemporary concerns presented. The fourth section of the review synthesizes the information provided in the areas of teacher care, the academic achievement gap, and the comprehensive high school by making connections between the three and identifying common themes as they relate to the purpose of this study.
Teacher Caring
In order to provide a framework for exploring issues relevant to teacher caring in schools, it is necessary to speak to the issue of care itself and then expand upon this concept as it pertains to the educational setting. This portion of the literature review will include writings on the notion of care, philosophical approaches and research identifying the meaning and significance of teacher caring including the ways in which caring is manifested in schools, and research on care in schools and its relationship to academic achievement. Also relevant to this study are works addressing student perceptions on teacher caring with specific emphasis on the perceptions of African American students.
Caring
The occurrence of modern philosophers defining and acknowledging the necessity of care as an integral component of human existence with implications on the very heart of satisfaction and the ability to thrive as human beings is widely accepted in the literature on care (Beck, 1994; Prillaman, Eaker, & Kendrick, 1994; Noddings, 1992). The Jewish philosopher Buber (1958) proposes that the only way a person can experience the act of being is to be entered directly into respectful and caring relationships. This notion is supported by the protestant theologician Macmurray (1961) who presumes that the very existence of a person is only plausible amidst caring relationships.
In an attempt to gain insight in to the meaning of man, the contemporary philosophical work of Mayeroff (1971) sought to provide a generalized description of the meaning of care and simplified care as an individual’s efforts to help another individual grow. Gilligan (1982) interlaces the ethic of care with women’s sense of integrity in so much as they identify themselves as women in the context of a relationship of connection. Political theorist Tronto (1993) argues for an ethic of care that necessitates moral actions grounded in a metaphor of boundaries.
The Meaning of Caring in Schools
Throughout the past 15 years there has been much emphasis placed on the definition and significance of care in schools. While individuals present differing meanings, characteristics, and areas of focus, it is undisputed that care is vital to the very nature and purpose of education and must be addressed in order for schools to be successful in meeting the needs of all students (Beck, 1994; Bosworth, 1995; Chaskin & Mendley Rauner, 1995; Katz, Noddings, & Strike, 1999; Lipsitz, 1995; Newberg, 1995; Noblit, Rogers, & McCadden, 1995; Noddings, 1988, 1992, 1995; Prillaman, Eaker, & Kendrick, 1994; Rogers & Webb, 1991).
As one of the earliest writers to connect care and the possibilities caring has on the education of children, Gilligan (1982) provides a clue as to the direction to be taken by future research on care. Building upon her earlier work, Gilligan, Lyons, and Hanmer (1990) further develop the concept of women being care-focused thinkers and suggest educational implications. Noddings concurs with others when identifying care as a practice, a process, and an ethic (Gilligan, 1982; Noddings, 1992; Tronto, 1993) yet goes farther by introducing the dialogue to educational settings and providing schools with a prescription for addressing the ethic of care (Noddings, 1988). In her subsequent seminal work Noddings (1992) expands on this prescription by providing a comprehensive explanation of the four major components of moral education from the ethic of caring that are tied to a sense of community: modeling, dialogue, practices, and confirmation.
According to Noddings (1992), modeling is vital to the caring aspect of moral education and is comprised of the teacher showing the student how to care for others in the context of their own relations. Noddings argues that it is not sufficient to merely tell students to care and that teachers must show students that they care via the caring relationships they have created with the students. Good and Brophy (1991) identify this as imitation and incidental learning and caution educators to be aware of the inferential learning that occurs when students observe teachers. Support for the positive educational effects of modeling across domains is found extensively in educational literature (Good & Brophy, 1991; Kohn, 1991; Marzano, 2003).
Dialogue as it relates to the ethic of caring and moral education in schools according to Noddings (1992) is genuine, open-ended, and encompasses the mutual search between the teacher and student to find understanding, empathy, or appreciation. The maintaining of caring relationships is also facilitated by dialogue through the connection teachers and students have when participating in conversations where they are equals in their association with one another (Noddings, 1992). This connection between teachers and students as part of the defining characteristics of care is supported by others in the literature. According to Chaskin and Mendley Rauner (1995), “caring necessarily involves mutuality and connection. It is built on an often implicit recognition of reciprocity in human interaction” (p. 671). Lipsitz (1995) concurs and reasserts Nodding’s position that the reciprocal relationship is to be tied to a sense of community. Others see care as a cultural and moral value manifested in how individuals view their interactions and connections with one another (Noblit, Rogers, & McCadden, 1995).
The third component of moral education in the context of care presented by Noddings suggests the need to develop a mental model or “practice” that will shape the minds of individuals in a learning community (Noddings, 1992). According to Noddings there needs to be opportunities for practice and development of caring characteristics which can be incorporated into the school curriculum.
Finally Noddings addresses the component of confirmation and argues that a student’s behavior at any given time should be attributed to the highest conceivable motive (Noddings, 1992). The confirmation of the student’s ethical ideal is the goal and it must be grounded in trust and established relationships characterized by consistency (Noddings, 1992). Noblit, Rogers, and McCadden (1995) also address student behavior within the context of care and contend that emphasis should be placed on providing students who misbehave with social developmental assistance.
Chaskin and Mendley Rauner (1995) sought to define caring in schools in order to provide a foundation for the Research Program on Youth and Caring. Viewing caring as an umbrella concept, Chaskin and Mendley Rauner determined that isolated subjects such as efficacy, altruism, empathy, and prosocial behavior were linked under the awning of care. Upon delimiting the concept the authors assert that “Caring is also experiential and participatory—grounded in relationships and action. Caring responds to . . . needs for independence and connection, for belonging and membership, for safety and support, and for individual and social competency” (Chaskin & Mendley Rauner, 1995, p. 672).
Believing that within the literature there was an absence of authentic expressions of caring in educational contexts, Prillaman, Eaker, and Kendrick (1994) address the issue by providing a compilation of the writings of educators and researchers experiences as they seek to operationalize caring in the schools. The authors contend that the discourse on caring in education had yet to move from the theoretical to the practical and subsequently determined a lack of usefulness to practitioners. In response to this need, Prillamen, Eaker, and Kendrick provide the field with a vehicle for exploring the experiences of those in education, as well as substantiating the interconnections with which the lives of students and educators experience and represent care in educational communities.
Peterson Behrends (1996) divides the literature on care into academic, developmental, and moral approaches in an effort to further the understanding of how care is practiced in educational settings. Implying that the act of care itself is manifested in its most basic form by the efforts of educators to continuously improve upon academic strategies in order to provide students with the best possible educational opportunities, Peterson Behrends contends that school conditions and practices designed by educators to motivate students academically are examples of care in schools. The acceptance of this connection between care and school improvement efforts or best practices opens the door to a vast amount of both theoretical and practical literature that traverses educational fields (Daniels, Bizar, & Zemelman, 2001; DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Fullen & Hargreaves, 1996; Good & Brophy, 1991; Marzano, 2003; Schmoker, 2001; Senge, 2000; Stiggins, 2001). Alluding to the notion that care is essential to being (Buber, 1958; Mayeroff, 1971; Noddings, 1992), Peterson Behrends asserts that the healthy personal development of the individual is a facet of the developmental approach to caring in schools.
The moral approach to caring in school settings according to Peterson Behrends (1996) is the acknowledgment by educators that more is required to meet the needs of the whole child in contemporary classrooms. Heavily grounded in the community aspect found in the work of Noddings (1992), the moral approach to care in school places emphasis on the creation of a caring and just learning environment where a sense of community flourishes and students are involved in reciprocal caring relationships that advance their understanding of the importance of caring for others throughout their lifetime (Beck, 1994; Katz, Noddings, & Strike, 1999: Noddings, 1992).
Included in the moral approach to caring is the idea of power with emphasis on creating environments and discourse or interactions that provide students with a sense of empowerment. Appearing to be an oft times conflicting condition (Katz, Noddings, & Strike, 1999; McLaughlin, 1991; Noblit, 1993), the balance between a teacher’s power in the classroom and a student’s ability to feel a sense of contribution to the learning community is evident in the moral approach to caring in schools (Noblit, 1993, Noddings, 1992).
In an effort to provide a rationale for including the development of an ethic of care in teacher education programs, Rogers and Webb (1991) conclude that an ethic of caring is essential to the definition of effective teaching. Emerging from the work of The Caring Study, the authors purport the recurring theme that, “Good teachers care, and good teaching is inextricably linked to specific acts of caring” (Rogers & Webb, p. 174, 1991). Recognizing the importance of the four major components of moral education from the ethic of care presented by Noddings (1992), Rogers and Webb expand the concepts of modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation and assert there necessary inclusion in teacher education programs. The importance of including the ethic of care in teacher and administrator education programs is supported by others within the literature (Beck, 1994; McLaughlin, 1991; Teven, 2001).
Research on Care in Schools
Although in recent years there has been attention focused on caring in schools, school-based research on care is limited to mostly studies conducted in elementary and middle schools (Alder, 2002; Bosworth, 1995; Ferreira & Bosworth, 2000; Neal, 1999; Noblit, 1993; Rogers & Webb, 1991; Smith, 2000) or with adult participants (McLaughlin, 1991; Parish, 1991; Teven, 2001; Teven & McCrosky, 1996; Williams, 2003). It does appear that the need for further investigation is evident as studies have emerged that include a focus on the examination of care and high school students (Caldwell, 1999; Freese, 1999; Peterson Behrends, 1996; Pollen, 2000) as well as African American students’ perceptions of caring teacher characteristics and the impact teacher care has on their academic achievement and school satisfaction (Baker, 1998, 1999; Cothran & Ennis, 2000; Howard, 2001; Nelson & Bauch, 1997; Peart & Campbell, 1999; Sanacore, 2002, Tucker et al., 2002).
Via the Research Program on Youth and Caring, the Lilly Endowment initiated the first concentrated effort focusing on care as a field of inquiry in 1990 (Chaskin & Mendley Rauner, 1995). The research projects funded by small grants sought to investigate issues related to the concept of caring and the usefulness of the caring construct as it relates to informing practice and guiding future research. The intention, according to the authors, was to improve practice by facilitating the development of responsive environments and to identify useful interventions for today’s youth that would foster positive behaviors and attitudes. Identified as an area of focus by the Research Program on Youth and Caring is the school environment, in particular how the school environment fosters a sense of caring in students. Possibly as a result of the initiative, various areas have been explored through a caring lens including the role of the family, educational environments, after school programs, and places of worship (Chaskin & Mendley Rauner, 1995).
As a result of a study where middle-level students were asked to define care and provide examples of when a teacher demonstrates acts of caring, Bosworth (1995) drew conclusions about the definition of care in schools and how care becomes operational in educational settings. The five governing themes identified from the Bosworth inquiry were helpfulness, feelings, relationships, personal values, and activities. Most of the students in the study identified the act of a teacher helping them as the most salient characteristic of caring, and approximately one-fourth of the students referred to some aspect of a teacher displaying genuine feelings of empathy toward students as a component of a definition of teacher caring. Additionally, attitudes of respect and kindness were believed to be important to many students, as well as attentiveness to individual needs. The act of a teacher helping a student has been identified by other researchers as well as being an attribute that signifies care on the part of the teacher (Alder, 2002; Cothran & Ennis, 2000; Van Galen, 1993; Webb, Wilson, Corbett & Mordecai, 1993).
Alder (2002) presents an interpretive study examining the nature of caring relationships between urban middle school students and their teachers. Data was collected by interviews, focus groups, and by conducting classroom observations of twelve students from a predominantly African American school who provided their perceptions of the meaning of care as experienced via their interactions with two African American teachers. The findings from this study suggest that students see their teachers as caring when they “know their students well, provide personalized leadership for their students, teach to understanding and are academically helpful, and hold high expectations for behavior and achievement” (p. 241). Identified as an extension of Nodding’s fourth component of confirmation (Noddings, 1992), the concept of personalized leadership is described by Alder and Moulton (1998) as when a teacher provides students with clear guidance in helping them reconcile instances of poor judgment leading to misbehavior and constructing positive ethical views of themselves. Personalized leadership is promoted by teachers when they afford students the opportunity to take responsibility for their misbehavior and create an opening for the renewal of an ethical view of themselves (Alder & Moulton, 1998).
Undergraduate students were queried when Teven (2001) conducted a study that sought to identify teacher characteristics or behavior patterns that communicated both caring and the disruption of caring to students. The participants of the study included 249 college students enrolled in communication classes in a large university who targeted their responses to the teachers they had taken classes from immediately before the current semester of enrollment. Using a nine-item measure of perceived caring that included the themes of empathy, understanding, and responsiveness, Teven identified a positive relationship between students’ perceptions of their teachers’ caring and their perceptions of their teachers’ immediacy, responsiveness, and assertiveness and a negative relationship to teacher verbal aggressiveness. In a previous study of undergraduate students, Teven and McCroskey (1996) connected students’ perceptions of a teacher’s caring for them and their subsequent evaluation of their teachers, their affective learning, and their beliefs about how much they thought they learned.
The connection between student engagement and care has been explored in order to provide a bridge between the notion of care and academic achievement. Defining school warmth as the degree to which students perceived their teachers to be warm, caring, and supportive, Voelkl (1995) conducted a study using a nationwide sample of 13,121 eighth graders to examine the influence of participation as a mediator between school warmth and academic achievement. Acknowledging the weak support for a relationship between students’ perceptions of school warmth and their academic achievement, Voelkl argues the existence of a stronger relationship between warmth and participation, associating participation with student engagement. The results of the investigation supported Voelkl’s hypothesis that a warm and supportive school climate encourages higher participation or academic engagement among students, thereby increasing academic achievement. Others have explored the connection between teacher care or involvement and student engagement as a means of linking teacher care to increased academic achievement (Freese, 1999; Tucker et al. 2002).
Grounded in theories of motivation, Osterman and Freese (2000) provide an extensive review of research that connects teacher caring and student engagement. According to the authors:
As research shows, there is a direct and significant relationship between teacher craing, student engagement, and student learning. . . . If students are to succeed, schools must address the emotional needs of students and recognize that the ability to convey a sense of caring to stuents is an essential aspect of good teaching. (Osterman Freese, 2000, p. 298)
By emphasizing the link between student engagement and the quality of the relationships between students and teachers, Osterman and Freese along with others (Baker, 1998; Cothran & Ennis, 2000) contend that students are more likely to be academically successful when they perceive that their teachers care about them as students as well as individuals.
In a review of research about students’ sense of acceptance within the school community where a sense of community is defined as a feeling of belongingness, Osterman (2000) connects student engagement with academic achievement. Acknowledging the existence of little evidence demonstrating that academic achievement is directly related to students’ perceived sense of belonging, Osterman summarizes a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that via its effects on engagement, a sense of belonging influences the academic achievement of students. According to Osterman, the experience of relatedness as it is contained within the definition of belongingness is found to consistently demonstrate strong and significant correlations with student engagement. This is most evident in the area of teacher support, leading the author to conclude that the quality of the relationships students have with their teachers determines how they feel about school and their coursework in specific classes. According to the author:
To experience relatedness, students must feel that they are worthy of respect and that others in their group or social context care about them. Their beliefs about themselves develop through their interactions. If interactions are positive and affirming, students have a stronger sense of relatedness. (Osterman, 2000, p. 351)
African American Students and the Need for Care
A growing body of research and literature has emerged that focuses on the importance of caring relationships in educational contexts with respect to African American students. Seeking to assess African American elementary students’ interpretations of culturally relevant teachers within urban contexts, Howard (2001) interpreted the qualitative data from observations and interviews with seventeen students to support their preference for teachers who displayed caring bonds and attitudes towards them, who created family-type classroom environments, and were entertaining and made learning fun. Grounded in the realm of culturally responsive pedagogy, Howard provides specific strategies teachers can use based on the findings of the study. In the area of teacher care, Howard suggests that teachers explicitly and implicitly show their concern for students through positive reinforcement, high expectations, and involvement in the students’ lives outside of the classroom. In a study examining the impact of social contextual variables on the school satisfaction of urban, low-income, African American elementary students, Baker (1998) surmised that students’ perceptions of a caring, supportive school community had the most substantive impact on factors associated with their school satisfaction. A study focusing on urban African American high school students’ perceptions of caring teacher behaviors (Nelson & Bauch, 1997) found expectations, encouragement, and the provisions for challenging endeavors to be a demonstrative definition of teacher care for African American high school students. Caring educators, a caring environment, and a caring curriculum were perceived by urban minority high school students as indicative of how care is operationalized in schools (Peterson Behrends, 1996) and the connection between care and teacher control explored via ethnographic research (Gordon, 1998; Noblit, 1993).
In a study examining African American students’ reflections on characteristics of effective teachers, Peart and Campbell (1999) identified an overarching theme of effective teachers as caring individuals who demonstrated good interpersonal skills, effective instructional methods, the ability to motivate students, and who had an impartial outlook towards racism. The authors suggest that effective teachers of African American students communicated respect and caring by encouraging students in their schoolwork and making connections with them on a personal level. Contained under the comprehensive dynamic of good interpersonal skills, it is suggested by the findings that the academic success of African American students may be dependent upon the students’ bonding with the teachers and identifying with their values. Balanced with appropriate self-disclosure, Peart and Campbell contend that the key to fostering useful interpersonal relationships is one-on-one time that facilitates engaging students and teachers in caring and responsive dialogue (Noddings, 1992). Peart and Campbell assert that the key to improving the academic achievement of minority students may be based in a more caring relational domain as opposed to academic (Baker, 1999; Noblit, 1993; Noddings, 1992; Tucker et al., 2002).
Delving deeper into the possibilities interpersonal relationships may have on the academic achievement of African American students, Siddle Walker (1993) defines interpersonal relationships as “direct attention an individual gives to meet the psychological, sociological, and academic needs of another individual or individuals” (p. 65). Utilizing the data from a large historical ethnographic study conducted to understand the nature of schooling in one school for African American children identified as a “good” school, Siddle Walker provides an overview of the daily interactions identified as part of the school environment, discusses the response of students to the interpersonal caring they received, and explores the significance of interpersonal caring and the implications for school reform. From the findings, the author concludes that the presence of interpersonal relationships is an important component of the successful school environment and suggests interpersonal caring to be a powerful factor in influencing student success. Acknowledging that related research has focused primarily on curricular initiatives, institutional practices, and cultural discontinuities, Siddle Walker argues that the data collected from this study calls for further investigation into the possible influence caring relationships have on increasing the academic achievement of African American students (Noblit, 1993; Van Galen, 1993; Sanacore, 2002).
In a study testing the usefulness of Connell’s causal model for understanding the influence of the three teacher behaviors of structure, involvement, and autonomy support and the student self-system variables of perceived competence, perceived relatedness, and perceived autonomy on the academic engagement of low-income African American students, Tucker et al. (2002) found that teacher involvement had a strong direct effect on student-reported engagement. One hundred seventeen African America students participated in the study ranging from the 1st through 12th grades, with the majority of the students from the 7th through 12th grades. Teacher involvement is identified in this study as when a teacher shows interest in and concern for the student and demonstrates acts of caring. Students who reported that their teachers were more involved and interested in their lives were more likely to report higher levels of engagement in learning, and across all analysis the most consistent finding from this study was the strength of teacher involvement in predicting engagement. Recognizing that the cross-sectional design of this study does not permit a causal determination, the authors recommend that:
given the strong, consistent, and unique contribution of teacher involvement to explaining variation in student engagement scores in this study, future research and interventions may be best directed at targeting this variable with low-income African American students. (Tucker et al. 2002, p. 486)
Asserting that teacher behaviors can impact education outcomes for students by either increasing or decreasing academic engagement, the authors argue the need for future research aimed at clarifying the relationship between teacher actions and African American student engagement.
In a study conducted in three urban high schools with large populations of African American students, Cothran and Ennis (2000) conclude that engaging teachers cared, communicated well with students, and enthusiastically presented active learning activities. Identifying the key factor of their engagement as being the teacher, the students reported that they were more willing to engage in academic activities when they felt that the teacher cared about them as a person and whether or not they learned the subject matter. Additionally the students in the study described caring teachers as those who taught until mastery, were not “easy” but created supportive learning environments, and expressed an interest in their lives outside of school.
Interview data from the Cothran and Ennis (2000) study demonstrated that for these particular high school students there was little perceived congruence between the content of their classes and their worlds outside of school. The students placed little value on the subject matter being taught and their grades, and according to the authors consequently disengaged themselves in classes that they did not value or that they believed had no meaning to them. However, the interviews demonstrated that the students were much more willing to engage in classes when they perceived that the teacher cared if they learned the material being taught, despite their belief that the material was of little use to them. The following are excerpts from the responses given by the students in the Cothran and Ennis study:
If you see a teacher cares if you learn, then you’ll learn. (p. 112)
The teacher’s got to care about if they [students] learn it. I mean it’s the child’s responsibility for their grade, but you [the teacher] should help them too. (p. 113)
Students from the study report that many teachers did not care if the students learn or that teachers at the high school level place little emphasis on care, which is evident from the following excerpts:
Teachers in this school just don’t care. They come to get paid. If you learn it or if you don’t, it don’t matter to them. (p. 113)
More teachers need to help. They always tell you when you’re a little kid that you can go to your teacher, but I mean, when you get to high school, you gotta ask what happened to that theory? What happened to teachers are supposed to be there to help you and work with you? (p. 113)
The suggestion presented by Cothran and Ennis (2000) that the students’ desire for caring and communication from teachers is a response to their need for the development of personal relationships with teachers is found throughout the literature in the form of reciprocal relationships, connectedness, and the development of a caring learning community (Bosworth, 1995; Ferreira & Bosworth, 2000; Chaskin & Mendley Rauner, 1995; Lipsitz, 1995; Noblit, Rogers, & McCadden, 1995; Noddings, 1992). The authors contend that it is necessary for teachers to expand their roles to include provisions for building bridges to student engagement, and assert that the lack of opportunities after high school for many urban students makes it crucial that schools rely on internal forces such as teachers to engage students.
Noguera (2003) reports on research he conducted over several years in high schools in northern California that suggests that while most African American students value education and would like to succeed in school, there is a discrepancy between this claim and the effort the students expend, as well as the perceived support the students believe they receive from teachers in school. When asked to respond to a survey querying their experiences in school, nearly 90% of the African American male students responded “agree” or “strongly agree” to the statement “I think education is important,” yet 22% of them responded in the affirmative to the statement “I work hard to achieve good grades,” and 18% to the statement “My teachers treat me fairly.” Noguera presents additional data from another survey of 537 high school seniors at an academic magnet program that contains similar results. When responding to the statement “My teachers support me and care about my success in their class,” African American males were the least likely students to indicate that they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. Asian males were more than three times as likely to respond in the affirmative, and white males were more than two times as likely to respond in the affirmative to the statement. When the statement was posed to African American female students, similar results were obtained. African American females were the least likely students to indicate that they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. Both Asian and white females were more than two times as likely to respond in the affirmative to the statement. From a synthesis of current research in the field as well as his own extensive research, Noguera stresses the importance of considering how a leveling of aspirations may be a result of the experiences of African American students, especially males. “If students do not believe that their teachers care about them and are actively concerned about their academic performance, the likelihood that they will succeed is greatly reduced” (Noguera, 2003, p. 449).
Conclusions
Several themes emerge when synthesizing the information presented in this section of the literature review. Care is established as a necessary component of humanity and is constructed via reciprocity of human interaction and the creation of connections promulgated by the development of responsive relationships. Care is not developed in isolation. Rather it is manifested from an individual’s need to feel a sense of belonging to a larger community, an individual’s need to experience the relationship of connection fostered by the innate desire for community membership. Care is embedded in relationships and relationships develop through interactions with others which are cultivated in communities.
Schools are one of the most common places where children establish connections with others outside of their families, with teachers identified as critical factors necessary for the development of these connections and caring relationships. Teachers establish and maintain caring relationships through responsive dialogue, acts of confirmation, displays of empathy and concern, expressions of interest in a student’s life outside of school, as well as through helping, support, and high expectations. Caring relationships can flourish in schools when realized within caring, responsive environments.
While the emerging research does not support that care in and of itself directly impacts academic achievement, it does suggest that via its affects on student engagement and students’ perceived sense of belonging, care influences academic performance. It is further suggested by the research that teacher involvement and care, as well as a caring and supportive environment, encourages higher student participation which in turn increases student engagement. Caring behaviors exhibited by teachers appear to be a necessary component for increasing student engagement, subsequently impacting student achievement.
Additionally, the research presented supports the notion that caring relationships between students and teachers may have a greater impact on the academic achievement of African American students than white students. The research suggests that when African American students perceive their teachers as individuals who care about their academic performance and their lives outside of school, they are more likely to be academically engaged and have higher academic achievement. While cause has not been established, it seems plausible from the research presented that the academic achievement of African American students is influenced by their perceptions of whether or not their teachers care about them and show concern about their academic performance. It is suggested then that one of the keys to increasing the academic performance of African American students rests in a relational domain, in the actual teacher—student relationships that are created in schools, as opposed to a purely academic domain.
Achievement Gap
The term achievement gap is commonly used in educational literature and research to describe the differences in the academic achievement of students categorized by race, gender, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, and special services (Barton, 2003; College Board, 1999; Denbo, 2002; Education Trust, 2003; Miller, 2003). The gap in school achievement among racial and ethnic groups is by far most frequently referenced and well documented (Voelkl, 1993), yet the issue is much broader than the conveyance of statistics. The achievement gap is present before children enter school (Kober, 2001) and historically has fluctuated over time with an increase in the gap for some subjects and ages becoming more evident in recent years (Kober, 2001; Reynolds, 2002).
Comprehensive studies focusing on the disparities between African American and white students on levels of academic achievement have been prevalent since the 1960s (College Board, 1999; Miller, 2003; Voelkl, 1993). In a renowned report conducted by Coleman (1966), a nationwide sample of African American students scored approximately one standard deviation below their white counterparts on assessments of academic achievement, with the results remaining stable when socioeconomic status, gender, and location remained constant. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) established by the federal government in the late 1960s (Miller, 2003) afforded educators and policymakers the ability to see achievement gap data and identify trends from a national sample of elementary and secondary students. Throughout the past 30 years, the NAEP testing program has conducted several studies across subjects that have consistently documented the existence of achievement gaps (College Board, 1999; Miller, 2003; Voelkl, 1993). Several other agencies and task forces have accumulated significant amounts of information regarding achievement gaps across educational levels (Alson, 2003; College Board, 1999; Ferguson, 2002; McGee, 2003; Reynolds, 2002) that consistently show a gap between the achievement of African American students and students from low socioeconomic status and their white counterparts. Achievement gap data has recently been made available for state level testing (Education Trust, 2003; McGee, 2003) as states are now required to publish achievement results separately for racial and ethnic groups (No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2001). The significance of NCLB among other things is that “for the first time in the nation’s history, raising achievement levels among racial and ethnic minorities and closing achievement gaps are explicit goals of federal policy” (Ferguson, 2002, p. 3).
Achievement gap statistics are readily available from studies and compilations of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Score averages from 1990 through 2002 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) were found to be 93 points lower for African American students than white students on the verbal section of the assessment and more than 100 points lower on the mathematical portion, with trends showing a slight increase in the gap for both sections of the test (United States Department of Education, 2002). The average scale score of African American students in mathematics for ages 9, 13, and 17 were found to be lower than white students in trend data with a decrease in the achievement gap evident from 1978 through 1986, an apparent leveling off of the gap from 1990 through 1996, and a slight increase in the gap in 1999 (United States Department of Education, 1999). Similar results are evident in trend data compiled for the same ages in the areas of reading (United States Department of Education, 2000) and science (United States Department of Education, 1999). According to data provided by the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average mathematics scale score gap at grade four between white students and African American students narrowed between 2000 and 2003, and was smaller in 2003 than in 1990. In grade eight the average scale score gap narrowed between 2000 and 2003, with little difference found from 1990 to 2003 (United States Department of Education, 2003).
Comparable achievement gap data are presented in a report comparing the performance of students from Illinois to that of the rest of the country on the NAEP in reading and mathematics (Education Trust, 2003). The report makes evident that in 2002, significantly more white students than African American students met or exceeded state reading and mathematics standards for the grades assessed. Additionally, African American and Latino students are underrepresented in Advanced Placement exams and in gifted education programs in Illinois’ schools.
Graphically illustrating the difference in academic performance between minority students and their white counterparts in Illinois, McGee (2003) provides the field with a hypothesis for studying the Golden Spike schools as a resource for replicating their success in lowering the achievement gap. Acknowledging that there has never been a systematic plan of attack to decrease the gaps in educational achievement, McGee asserts, “the achievement gap is the single most critical educational problem in our state, if not the country” (McGee, p. 10, 2003). Accrediting the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) as the impetus for recent efforts to reduce the gap and identifying the relationship between scores among low-income students and the reality that African American students are disproportionately represented in low-income counts, McGee recapitulates Illinois’ gaps in student achievement. On the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), African American students performed significantly lower in all subjects tested at all grade levels, with 33% of third grade African American students meeting state reading standards compared to 75% of their white counterparts. Noting that the gaps do not close as students progress through the system, the report indicates that by their junior year 63% of white students meet the state mathematics standards as compared to 20% of African American eleventh graders.
Emphasis on achievement gap data has historically focused on the performance of low-achieving minority students in urban settings (Flaxman, 2003) yet achievement gaps are not relegated to urban or poor performing schools (Ferguson, 2002; Ogbu, 2003). As a result of suburban white students significantly leaving behind their rural and urban peers, achievement gaps recently have been found to be greater in suburban, traditionally high achieving schools (Alson, 2003), with gaps being greater at higher achievement levels (College Board, 1999). The gaps are evident in numerous measures such as graduation and drop out rates, attendance, grades, the percentage of students enrolled in advanced placement classes as well as standardized test scores (Kober, 2001; Reynolds, 2002).
Conditions That Create and Perpetuate Achievement Gaps
With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and its emphasis on basing educational policy reform measures on established research, comes an interest in identifying the factors that have contributed to the development of achievement gaps and effectively guaranteed their existence (Ferguson, 2002; Miller, 2003). Well established within the literature is the understanding that there is a multifaceted blend of societal, home, and school forces that cause the achievement gap as opposed to one identifiable factor or straightforward explanation (Kober, 2001).
In an effort to expose the origins of achievement gaps evident among students of differing race and socioeconomic status, Barton (2003) provides the achievement gap literature with a report that organizes and condenses years of research on identifiable correlates of achievement. By focusing on both school and home conditions generally agreed upon by the research community as associated with school achievement, Barton identifies 14 correlates of elementary and secondary school achievement and then queries the differing experiences among subgroups by race and socioeconomic status relative to the correlates. According to Barton, the results of meshing the 14 correlates of school achievement with achievement gap statistics were unambiguous and demonstrated definite gaps between minority and majority student populations. Of the 12 cases where data were available, 11 established clear gaps between students from low-income families and higher income families. For each correlate such as academic rigor, teacher preparation, class size, parent availability, and television watching, Barton provides a summary of the research establishing the correlation with achievement and charts the gaps, urging researchers to use the information to detangle the knots of differing subgroup educational outcomes.
Socioeconomic status and familial disparities. The strong correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement (Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003) and its identification as one of the most powerful predictors of students’ academic success (College Board, 1999) has made the relationship between the socioeconomic status of a student and numerous fields critical to positive educational outcomes an area of focus. Children from low-income families have less access to home learning resources such as books and computers (Ferguson, 2002), are less frequently exposed to adults with high levels of educational attainment (Reynolds, 2002), are three times more likely than those from high-income families to frequently change schools, and experience hunger that has been shown to impact standardized test scores and attendance (Barton, 2003). Students who have parents with little formal education or who come from low-income homes are less likely to be high academic achievers than their high-income counterparts (College Board, 1999). “Children from low-income families are more likely to experience problems of health, nutrition, low-birth weight, housing, violence, substance abuse, and other factors that depress achievement” (Kober, 2001, p. 23).
Socioeconomic status is of particular significance with regards to the achievement gap since African American families have higher rates of poverty when compared to white families (Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002). The authors identify residential patterns of African American families as one of the most debilitating characteristics of poverty, asserting that low-income African American children are more likely to live in low-income communities than low-income white children. Socioeconomic isolation is established which according to the authors results in African American children having less opportunity for quality health care, pre-school and childcare programs, and family support services shown to have positive effects on academic achievement (Kober, 2001; Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002). “The residential segregation and resulting social and economic isolation of large numbers of poor African American families, many of whom are experiencing multigenerational poverty, can exacerbate the harmful effects of poverty on African American children” (Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002, p. 20).
Immigration patterns over the past 40 years have also contributed to the perpetuation of the achievement gap by reinforcing socioeconomic differences among racial and ethnic groups (College Board, 1999). Miller (2003) asserts that the large percentage of immigrants with low educational levels entering the United States from Latino countries and the substantial percentage entering from Asia who have bachelor’s degrees, function to maintain achievement gaps. Immigrants from Latin America, especially those from Mexico, are characterized by high numbers of adults and older teenagers with no more than an elementary school education. Asian immigrants however according to Miller, are characterized as having a relatively high percentage of adults who have at least a bachelor’s degree. The author asserts that this ethnically bimodal wave of immigration along with the strong correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement contribute to the continuation of achievement gaps.
In-school factors. There are a multitude of in-school factors identified in the literature that either create or enable the continuance of achievement gaps (Barton, 2003; Denbo, 2002; Kober, 2001). Disparities in resources, curriculum and course enrollment patterns, teacher qualifications, teacher expectations and differential treatment, racism and institutional practices, student performance anxiety, and school climate are recognized as impacting the academic performance of students and perpetuating achievement gaps (College Board, 1999; Darling-Hammond, 1995; Denbo, 2002; Irvine, 1990; Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003; Osterman & Freese, 2000; Reynolds, 2002).
The high concentration of minorities and students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds in low-income neighborhoods has resulted in African American students attending segregated urban schools that are funded at lower levels than suburban schools attended by predominantly white students (Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002). Local revenue is utilized to fund schools largely ensuring unequal distribution of educational resources among school districts (Denbo, 2002). Resource disparities between schools with high minority enrollments and those with low minority enrollments exist (Kober, 2001, Reynolds, 2002) and districts serving the largest number of students of color lack adequate revenue bases (Denbo, 2002). Students who attend schools with high concentrations of students from low socioeconomic means achieve at lower educational levels (Miller, 2003) as several factors associated with educational attainment are impacted by the lack of funding (Barton, 2003). As a result of resource disparities, African American children are more likely to attend schools with inferior buildings, larger class sizes, inferior library and science materials, inferior or less textbook availability, and with less computer access or inferior computers (Barton, 2003; Denbo, 2002).
The academic curriculum provided to students of color and the course enrollment patterns of African American students contribute to the academic achievement gap (Denbo, 2002; Kober, 2001; Reynolds, 2002). Academic achievement has been shown to be closely related to the rigor of the curriculum provided (Barton, 2003) and in middle and high school is the single most important factor predicting college success (Kober, 2001). Minority students are more likely to attend schools that do not offer academically rigorous courses in math and science (Kober, 2001). They take fewer Advanced Placement courses (Reynolds, 2002) are more likely to be taught through curricula that is geared toward slow learners, and are often separated from the mainstream population into less challenging courses (Denbo, 2002; Shaffer, Ortman, & Denbo, 2002). Schools with a large number of high minority students have been found to water-down their curriculum which results in less homework being given, the covering of less material, and awarding higher grades for lower performance than schools with lower numbers of minority enrollment (Kober, 2001). Additionally, there is a substantial amount of research demonstrating the overrepresentation of African American students in special education, specifically in the disability categories of emotional disturbance and mental retardation (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.).
Well established in the literature is the tremendous impact the teacher has on the academic achievement of students (Barton, 2003; Darling-Hammons, 1995; Marzano, 2003). In his synthesis of 35 years of research on effective schools, Marzano (2003) asserts that “effective teachers have a profound influence on student achievement and ineffective teachers do not” (Marzano, 2003, p. 75). Despite this research, low-income and minority students are disproportionately taught by teachers who come from less selective colleges, fail more certification tests, and have less teaching experience (Robelen, 2002) . Minority and low-income students are more likely to be taught by teachers who lack college degrees and certification in the subject being taught (Barton, 2003), and are more likely to be taught by teachers who have lower scores on certification tests (Kober, 2001). “Minority students are less likely than white students to be taught by experienced and highly qualified teachers—a discrepancy that seems to be one of the most critical variables underlying the achievement gap” (Kober, 2001, p. 22).
Numerous research studies have been conducted that establish the relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement (Good & Brophy, 1991). Several studies have demonstrated that teachers tend to have lower expectations for African American students than their white counterparts (Denbo, 2002; Ferguson, 1998; Haycock, 2001) which can manifest itself in the differential treatment of minority students (Good & Brophy, 1991; Osterman & Freese, 2000; Reynolds, 2002). Minority students tend to be treated differently and experience a different educational environment than white students (Majors, 2001; Reynolds, 2002). They often are imposed with lower grading standards and lower expectations regarding the quantity, quality, and depth of academic assignments (Haycock, 2001). Kober (2001) implies that the achievement gap may be perpetuated by the lower expectations of teachers for minority students, and attributes the expectations to the teachers basing their perceptions on the students’ current performance which subsequently leads them to underestimate the students’ academic potential. Ferguson (1998) concurs and deems teachers’ expectations and perceptions as contributing factors to the continuation of the achievement gap. “My bottom line conclusion is that teachers’ perceptions, expectations, and behaviors probably do help to sustain, and perhaps even to expand, the black white test score gap” (Ferguson, 1998, p. 313).
Racism and institutional practices that result in white privilege are identified in the literature as contributing factors to the creation and perpetuation of achievement gaps (Denbo; 2002; Irvine, 1990; Majors, 2001). Recognizing the flagrant discriminatory past practices of the American public school system such as segregation, and the deeply ingrained belief among many Americans that some minorities are less capable of being academically successful due to innate or cultural reasons, the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement reports that researcher have identified how racist beliefs affect the academic achievement of minority students (College Board, 1999). According to the College Board (1999), these beliefs can contribute to the low expectations teachers have for minority students and can have a severe psychological impact on minority students that keeps them from performing up to their academic potential.
Some researchers have made the connection between this psychological impact and performance anxiety of African American students. Associating low expectations with the threat of stereotypes, Aronson (2004) argues that students can become anxious when they feel as if they may confirm the negative stereotypes imposed on them, subsequently lowering their performance on challenging tasks and tests. Steele and Aronson (1998) assert that in potentially applicable situations where one risks confirming a negative stereotype about the group to which they belong, stereotype threat occurs which can impair performance when the negative stereotype in question is perceived to effect something as important as intellectual ability. Numerous studies have been conducted in the last 10 years showing stereotype threat to be a considerable factor in the achievement gap (Aronson, 2004). Denbo (2002) asserts that some African American students protect their self-esteem by disengaging themselves academically when they believe they are in an environment where they are perceived to be less intelligent. Ogbu (1995) builds on previous work and uses findings from a current study (Ogbu, 2003), to extend the argument to include the attempts of African American students to maintain a cultural identity which causes them to refrain from behaviors that lead to school success. Ogbu asserts that there are psychological pressures created by discrimination on African American students against “acting white” and that these pressures cause them to shy away from striving for academic success (Ogbu, 1995).
Institutional bias is evident in the area of disciplinary practices for minority students and is characterized by disparities in the suspension and expulsion rates for minority students and their peers (Reynolds, 2002). Denbo (2002) reports that in 1998-1999, African American students comprised approximately 17% of all students, but accounted for 33% of all students being suspended. Data from a national study conducted by the Applied Research Center (ARC) that examined racial discrimination in the schools provides the field with similar statistics. The study reveals that African American students in San Francisco are suspended or expelled from school in numbers more than three times their proportion of the general school population, are more than five times as likely to be suspended or expelled than white students in Chicago, and are more than four times as likely to be suspended or expelled than white students in Boston (Gordon, Della Piana, & Keleher, 2000). Identifying zero tolerance policies as a contributing factor, the authors report that the suspension and expulsion rates of African American students were equal to or more than their proportion of all students for all 12 cities studied. As a result of their research, Gordon et al. surmise that there is a pattern of institutional racism that perpetuates the achievement gap in the form of differential treatment that pushes students of color away from challenging courses and subjects them to inequitable punishment practices.
An area identified in the achievement gap literature as school climate encompasses several of the facets previously presented as well as the notion of school safety and stability (Barton, 2003; Kober, 2001). A recent study prepared by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (Carroll, Fulton, Abercrombie, & Yoon, 2004), reports the results of a random survey of 3,336 teachers working in schools with large populations of low income and minority students. When compared to their counterparts in more affluent communities, teachers in schools serving large numbers of low income and minority students reported:
1. Higher numbers of uncredentialed teachers.
2. An insufficient number of teachers who are qualified to prepare students for high stakes tests.
3. Serious teacher turnover problems.
4. Unfilled teacher vacancies and large numbers of substitute teachers.
5. Low levels of parental involvement.
6. Inadequate physical facilities.
7. Evidence of vermin (cockroaches, mice, and rats) in school buildings.
8. Dirty, closed, or inoperative bathrooms.
9. Inadequate textbooks and materials for students to use in class or to take home.
10. Inadequate computers and limited Internet access.
11. Inadequate science equipment and materials.
12. Higher personal expenditures to compensate for insufficient classroom materials and supplies. (Carroll et al., 2004, p. 5)
The authors of the report conclude that the conditions of many schools with high numbers of minority and low income students are not adequate enough to support quality teaching and learning. Kober (2001) reports that minority students are more likely than white students to attend schools with poor facilities and unfavorable disciplinary climates, and minority parents are more likely to express safety concerns about the schools their children attend than white parents. African American students are more likely to report the presence of gangs in school and a fear of being attacked at school than white students (Barton, 2003). Researchers have identified a correlation between high achievement and a positive disciplinary climate and that “a general lack of student discipline and an atmosphere that produces fear in students are not conducive to learning” (Barton, 2003, p. 20).
Mobility rates are indirectly associated with school climate and directly associated with academic performance within the literature (Barton, 2003; Kober, 2001). African American students have double the amount of mobility rates than white students and low-income students have triple the amount of mobility rates than high-income students (Barton, 2003). High mobility rates not only affect the achievement of the student who moves by causing them to be unprepared for school work, disconnected from the learning environment, and to experience a teacher who is not familiar with their prior learning (Barton, 2003), but can also slow the academic pace of instruction for all students (Kober, 2001).
Addressing the Gap
Although numerous researchers and practitioners have provided contributions to the literature with the goal of improving the academic achievement of minority students (Denbo & Moore Beaulieu, 2002; Gregory, 2000; Irvine, 1990; Lomotey, 1990; Majors, 2001; Murrell, 2002), the call for extensive and continued research in support of ways to address the achievement gap at national, state, and local levels across a multitude of educational and societal domains is prevalent (Barton, 2003; Ferguson, 1998; Kober, 2001; Miller, 2003). Agreed upon within the literature is the opinion that there is a definite need to close the achievement gap (Bennet et al., 2004; College Board, 1999; Irvine, 1990; McGee, 2003; Miller, 2003) and that efforts are made more complex by the multidimensional nature of the task and the requirement of a simultaneous, enduring charge from national, state, and local policymakers as well as community leaders, educators, students, and the private sector (Alson, 2003; Bennet et al., 2004; Carroll et al., 2004; Kober, 2001; College Board, 1999; Miller, 2003).
In a report from the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability (2004) the authors address the achievement gap by asserting that not only will all students benefit by approaching teaching and learning from a developmental perspective, traditionally academically unsuccessful students will have the additional benefit of having their intellective competence developed (Bennet et al, 2004). Building upon recommendations for a multifaceted policy of affirmative development from the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement (College Board, 1999) the authors of this report expand the field by including the concept of intellective competence, or more specifically how an individual “reflects the effective orchestration of affective, cognitive, and situative mental processes in the service of sense making and problem solving” (Bennet et al, 2004, p. 2). The report describes a systematic approach to closing the achievement gap that necessitates simultaneous interventions at the community, school, and classroom level, and provides the field with specific conclusions about the educational experiences necessary for the affirmative development of academic ability. Suggesting that the combination of research-based educational interventions and the equalization of educational forms of capital are requirements for closing the gap, Bennet et al. provide specific recommendations for the national level that include teacher preparation programs and curriculum embedded assessments, at the state level that include school leader preparation and high expectations, and at the local level that include continuing professional development for teachers, and a proactive promotion of intellective competence by teachers and administrators.
The conclusion that several parties share the responsibility for the achievement of all students is apparent as well in a list provided by the Center on Education Policy that is based on proposals from researchers of the most promising strategies for closing the achievement gap (Kober, 2001). Separating school level strategies from societal, community, and home strategies, Kober provides the field with a comprehensive compilation of strategies identified throughout the literature as beneficial to closing the gap. Kober identifies school level strategies as:
1. Challenging curriculum and instruction.
2. Well-qualified teachers and professional development opportunities.
3. High standards and accountability for subgroups.
4. Equitable resource distribution and diverse school enrollments.
5. Knowledge and capacity for school improvement.
6. Reduced class size.
7. Extended learning opportunities.
8. Expanded preschool.
9. Research. (2001, pp. 24-25)
The four societal, community, and home strategies supported in the literature for addressing the gaps in academic achievement among African American students and their white counterparts are:
1. Supportive, motivating culture.
2. Community academic activities.
3. Parent education and involvement.
4. Social conditions, improved quality of life. (2001, p. 25)
Kober contends that closing the gap will require a focused, long-term shared effort by the private and public sectors, community leaders, parents, students, policymakers, and educators.
A report prepared by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future attributes the achievement gap to possibilities not realized after Brown v. Board of Education (Carroll et al., 2004). From this study that queried 3,336 teachers in three states, the authors assert that low income and minority students are provided with separate but unequal learning conditions and that it is unacceptable to hold these students accountable for meeting high standards while they learn in substandard conditions. The Carroll et al. report supports other studies by providing the field with several recommendations for closing the gap that include establishing standards (Gordon et al., 2000) improving the use of research (Miller, 2003) and hiring and supporting well qualified educators (Darling-Hammond, 1995).
Ferguson (2002) provides the field with four recommendations for addressing achievement gaps based on a study conducted in reputedly excellent schools. The Ed-Excel Assessment of Secondary School Culture was administered to 7th and 11th graders from 95 schools across 15 districts in an effort to better understand the experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in schools, and how these experiences might affect their engagement and achievement. Questions from the Ed-Excel survey address achievement motivations, course-taking patterns, effort, and quality of instruction, as well as other variables such as grade point averages and enjoyment of studies. From a review of the key patterns identified within the survey data, Ferguson argues that teachers must counter their incorrect assumptions about differences in effort and interests of minority students in the face of observable differences in behavior and academic performance by consciously assuming that there are no systematic, group-level differences in the motivation to succeed of minority students. Acknowledging that achievement scores represent disparities in academic knowledge and skill, Ferguson asserts that schools should identify specific skill and knowledge deficits of minority students and strategically target these areas. To capitalize on the importance that African American and Hispanic students attribute to teacher encouragement, the author suggests that teachers become aware of acts that African American and Hispanic students deem as encouraging, and routinely provide these students with encouragement grounded in effective instructional practices both inside and outside of the classroom. Finally, Ferguson urges schools to provide minority students with more educational resources and learning experiences outside of the home to counter disparities in familial advantages.
Implying that the relationships between students and their teachers could be the key to improving the academic performance of African American and Hispanic students, Ferguson (2002) recognizes that literature and research focusing on the possibilities of this connection is lacking. From this study, the author stresses the importance of encouragement and strong teacher-student relationships for raising achievement of African American and Hispanic students and proposes a three-prong approach for schools. As a result of this research Ferguson assembles content, pedagogy, and relationships into an “instructional tripod” that necessitates equal strength of each leg in order for the tripod to remain standing. He asserts that professional development activities for teachers should provide them with the means to attend to each leg of the tripod simultaneously.
From their examination of the data gleaned via a computerized survey instrument called the Racial Justice Report Card that was administered by community organizations in 12 geographically and ethnically representative cities for the Applied Research Center, Gordon et al. (2000) provide the achievement gap literature with recommendations for addressing the gap. As a result of their findings of inequitable treatment of students of color in United States public schools, the authors argue that all school districts must be required to keep and publish annually disaggregated statistics, and use the findings to develop an annual racial equity report that includes suspension and expulsion rates. Gordon et al. assert that school, district, state, and national racial equity plans should be developed and assessed annually against quantifiable goals, and schools must act immediately to rectify the inequitable application of severe disciplinary actions that serve to remove minority students from the learning environment. Additionally the authors call for the termination of academic tracking as well as the creation of successful interventions that place minority students in advanced classes by providing them with access to “gatekeeper” courses at the earliest levels.
Honoring a self-imposed goal of ensuring that racial differences in achievement are eliminated while the academic achievement of all students is improved, The Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) provides the field with suggestions for closing achievement gaps (Alson, 2003). According to Alson, researchers should focus on the interactive nature of important variables such as racism, quality instructional leadership, personalized classroom environments, teacher expectations and instructional repertoire, academic rigor and tutorial supports, as well as current assessment practices to determine their combined effects on the achievement gap. Subsequent interventions stemming from this research should be multifaceted and interactive, and should be addressed simultaneously. Utilizing findings from a large-scale study of middle and high school students where the MSAN found that African American and Latino students viewed teacher encouragement as more essential to achievement than their white counterparts, Alson urges educators to listen to students when considering interventions for addressing the gap and asserts that school leaders need to develop targeted plans that involve students, teachers, and the community.
Noguera (2001) explores political factors and the creation of racial identity relevant to the academic achievement gap by utilizing the results of four years of research conducted at Berkley High School (BHS) to provide a context for understanding the issues surrounding efforts to promote educational equity undertaken by the MSAN. With the purpose of demonstrating to the learning community of BHS the means by which students are demographically separated as well as challenging assumptions about the link between race and school performance, the study used the research methods of an annual survey administered to the freshmen students of the class of 2000 combined with an analysis of grades and course enrollment patterns of these students over the next four years. Along with several other examples of inequitable experiences by BHS students, an analysis of the data revealed that African American and Latino students were predominant in the less demanding remedial courses, white students were predominant in the college track or honors courses, and that course assignments during the ninth grade determined the trajectory of the students for the next four years. The data was positively received by the faculty and opened the door to difficult discussions about the implications of the findings for the school as a whole, which subsequently has moved the school community to address the issue.
From this research at Berkeley High School, Noguera (2001) comes to the conclusion that the reason affluent schools such as those in the MSAN are unable to produce the same academic results with their African American students from low or middle socioeconomic status as they do with their affluent white students, is because the explanation cannot be found within the context of educational practice. Noguera asserts that the significance of the role race plays in the achievement gap is “largely related to the ways in which identities related to race and gender are constructed in school settings and to perceptions and expectations that develop among adults and students in response to these perceived identities” (p. 24). Recognizing that scholars are not in agreement regarding how students come to perceive a connection between their academic ability and their racial identity, Noguera stresses that it is imperative to gain understanding about this phenomena if educators are to develop strategies that can alter the ways in which race and achievement become linked. Using the results of the BHS study to support how racial identity and student performance becomes operative, Noguera argues that the structure and culture of the school contribute to the linkage as well, and maintains that “oppositional identities and an antiacademic orientation (e.g., an unwillingness to enroll in challenging courses) are social products that are directly related to the school experience of many Black and Latino students” (p. 27). Additionally, the protection of privilege manifested in the political arena assists to reinforce cultural and structural barriers that impede efforts to improve minority student achievement.
From his research as well as his involvement with the MSAN, Noguera (2001) offers insight as to what needs to occur to narrow the academic achievement gap. Student motivation appears to be one of the biggest factors effecting disparities in student achievement and it is the responsibility of schools, parents, and the community to find ways to motivate students who see no relevance in education. Discussions about the achievement gap should include the means by which racial disparities are reproduced and maintained via school operations. Attempts need to be made to address the practices that harm the interests of under-achieving students and reward the traditionally academically motivated students, however, this will be extremely difficult according to Noguera due to the political power of those who believe these attempts will somehow decrease the benefits they currently receive.
Unless educators are willing to examine organizational practices that facilitate the perpetuation of the gap in academic opportunities, and unless they are willing and able to take actions to undo them, reducing the racial gap in student performance will not be possible. (Noguera, 2001, p. 36)
The antiacademic orientation and oppositional identities proposed by Noguera (2001) as well as the previously presented discussions on the psychological impact of negative stereotypes and the need by African American students to maintain a cultural identity (Aronson, 2004; Ogbu, 2003) are further developed by Bennet et al. (2004). Identified as psychosocial processes that hinder the development of academic ability, Bennet et al. maintain that the research on the related phenomena of attributional ambiguity and stereotype threat supports the importance of a clear message that feelings of trust in the individuals representing the institution such as teachers and administrators, and feelings of trust in the institution such as a school, are fundamental to the affirmative development of high minority student achievement. Attributional ambiguity refers to the self-imposed questions generated by minority students when they are faced with feedback about their performance. According the authors, when faced with negative feedback or obstacles often experienced by all high achieving students, minority students may question whether or not the feedback is directly related to their performance, or whether or not it is a result of racial bias on the part of the person providing the feedback. The minority student must wrestle the possibility of discounting the feedback due to external bias, with the possibility that the feedback is reflective of their actual ability. Having reason to be attracted to both explanations for negative feedback, high-achieving minority students may become distracted and confused when they attempt to identify coping strategies to address the negative feedback, leading to difficulty resolving the state of attributional ambiguity.
Bennet et al. (2004) describe stereotype threat within the context of education as the minority student’s awareness that others might judge their performance in school in terms of their racial background as opposed to their individual background. The psychological process becomes relevant when minority students find themselves in situations where the stereotype of their group is applicable.
As such, Hispanic and African-American students may be particularly vulnerable to stereotypes in the domain of academics, because the stereotype surrounding these students concerns a generalized suspicion about their intelligence. Importantly, the effects of stereotypes can occur without the stereotyped individual himself or herself believing the stereotype—one simply has to have the knowledge of the stereotype and the awareness that others might view him or her through the stereotype. (Bennet et al., 2004, pp. 19-20)
With the emphasis on academic ability prevalent in schools and the diagnostic nature of standardized testing and its subsequent affects on future opportunities, “the implications of feeling stereotyped in relation to minority student achievement are profound” (Bennet et al., 2004, p. 20). To combat this, the authors suggest that schools go beyond the mere reporting of numerical diversity and provisions for equal opportunities, and work to create “relational diversity.” Identified as the degree to which schools actively secure the trust and confidence of the students within the institution, relational diversity is seen by the authors as a critical component of minority students’ achievement. Additionally, the authors make a connection between a minority student’s sense of belongingness in the institution or school and their academic achievement.
When high-achieving minority students succeed, many times they will be faced with situations and environments where their group membership becomes particularly salient. As research on prejudice apprehension shows, concerns about one’s belonging can directly impact one’s achievement by leading people to not take advantage of the various resources that the institution may offer. Although this self-protective strategy minimizes the possibility of rejection and future prejudice, it also reduces the number of resources and support systems one can count on when faced with the difficulties that all students face. (Bennet et al., 2004, p. 21)
Conclusions
The No Child Left Behind Act has created a recent surge of interest in the academic achievement of all students, causing educators to focus on narrowing the academic achievement gaps that have consistently been present in American schools. Agreed upon within the literature and evident from this review is the belief that academic achievement gaps are caused and perpetuated by a variety of societal, home, and school factors. Also agreed upon is the understanding that any effort to address the academic achievement gaps must include all stakeholders from national, state, and local policymakers as well as community leaders, parents, and private industry. The systematic charge will have to be simultaneous, enduring, and focused. Several in-school factors have been identified in this review as creating or perpetuating the achievement gap. Relevant to this study is the role the teacher and the school environment play in the academic achievement of African American students.
This portion of the literature review has made evident the fact that many African American students experience a different educational environment and treatment by educators than their white counterparts. Ranging from the physical state of the facilities they attend, to school climate and teacher expectations, African American students are imposed with differential treatment yet are expected to perform as well as white students. The educational conditions forced upon on many African American students are not adequate enough to support quality teaching and learning.
Addressed within this review is the importance of teachers and the possibilities their actions have on the academic performance of African American students. Teacher expectations and perceptions have been identified as contributing factors to the academic achievement gap and confirmation has been provided about the importance teacher encouragement and motivation can have on student performance. It has been posited that African American students may place a greater importance on teacher encouragement than white students and that this in turn affects their engagement, subsequently impacting their academic achievement. Encouragement has been connected to strong teacher-student relationships and personalized classroom environments, and it has been suggested by several researchers that the key to improving the academic performance of African American students is the relationship between these students and their teachers.
The role race plays in the academic achievement gap has been addressed in this review of literature from the perceptions and actions of teachers, as well as from the experiences and actions of African American students. Racist beliefs and institutional racism affect the academic achievement of minority students as they can contribute to low teacher expectations and may have a psychological impact on African American students. The notion of stereotype threat has been presented as being a considerable factor perpetuating the achievement gap and had been connected to the necessity of educators systematically addressing affirmative development in African American students. Researchers have made a connection between the psychological impact of race and the direct experiences African American students face as they attempt to create their own identities within an environment that they perceive to be in conflict with maintaining their cultural identity. The need to establish relational diversity is suggested as being one of the ways to address this psychological phenomena that impacts academic achievement, and an association has been established between this need and a sense of belonging perceived by African American students.
The Comprehensive High School
Premised on the idea of the common school, the comprehensive high school was created to simultaneously provide students the opportunity of various courses of study in addition to common experiences in core subjects and cultural life of the institution (Rury, 1999). Embraced by Americans as a means for providing more opportunities to the masses as well as encouraging interactions among students from differing backgrounds (Berliner & Biddle, 1995), the comprehensive high school exemplifies the model most commonly found for educating adolescents (Schaller, 2000). Studies and commission reports about the inefficacy of the model have spurred numerous discussions and considerations for reform over the past four decades (Gregory & Smith, 1987) and have culminated with an emphasis on moving away from the alienating nature of the large comprehensive high school model to the community building possibilities of smaller schools (Gregory, 2001; McQuillan, 1997; Oxley, 1994; Sizer, 1999).
The History of the Comprehensive High School
The early 20th-century debate over whether or not secondary education in America should emulate the aristocratic two-tiered educational system of Europe or adopt a system in sync with democratic ideals gave rise to the comprehensive high school model (Wraga, 2000). The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 effectively put an end to the debate by expanding the purpose of secondary education to include vocational instruction and subsequently opened the doors of the American high school to all students in the community and all courses of study (Wraga, 2000). This was a shift in thinking from the 1892 National Council of Educations’ Committee of Ten report on college admission requirements and the uniformity of high school programs (Angus & Mirel, 1999; Wraga; 2000). Embodying the philosophy and structure of American ideals, the good high school strove to offer differentiated curriculum that would encourage and support universal attendance, and would do so within one setting (Angus & Mirel, 1999). Leading the world during the early history of secondary education, America made a high school education available to a larger proportion of the population, and did so in a way that was democratic and supportive of Americans’ belief in individuality (Angus & Mirel, 1999).
The blueprint for the American high school was essentially defined by the Cardinal Principles Report of 1918 from the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education (Angus & Mirel, 1999; Rury, 1999; Wraga, 2000). Making no reference to the Committee of Ten’s emphasis on the importance of curriculum development being based on subject matter, the Cardinal Principles report broke from the past and shifted the focus to a vision of equal educational opportunity (Angus & Mirel, 1999). With a differentiated curriculum being the hallmark of the Cardinal Principles report, the existence of vocational and academic studies became the eminent feature of the comprehensive high school (Wraga, 2000). According to Wraga, the original design of the comprehensive high school was comprised of a specializing function that would provide a variety of coursework to meet the various needs of the heterogeneous population, and a unifying function that would enable students to overcome their differences in order to succeed (Wraga, 1999). A clear vision, sense of community, participatory decision making, blocked time and integrated core, teaching teams, guidance, and optimal school size were all proposed elements of the original comprehensive high school (Wraga, 1999), with the specializing and unifying function being included in almost all subsequent proposals (Wraga, 2000).
Within 10 years of the release of the Cardinal Principles report, the unifying function of the comprehensive high school began to take a back seat to the specializing function and American high schools were characterized by a variety of specialized courses with little emphasis placed on uniting students from differing academic and social backgrounds (Wraga, 2000). The introduction of a system of tracking that contradicted the unifying function occurred during this period as academia, dominant business values, and a new class of aspiring educational administrators merged to impose the use of group testing for sorting students.
Democratic idealism and equality of educational experiences were not alone in laying the foundation for the contemporary comprehensive American high school. As a result of several converging forces such as 19th century changes in universities, the large number of unemployed Americans (Conant, 1959), and a substantial increase in live births in the early 20th century, a need was created for a place to house and educate the vast numbers of adolescents who remained in school instead of dropping out to take jobs (Schaller, 2000). During the second quarter of the 20th century energies were mobilized to address social crises initiated by the end of World War II and the Great Depression, and there was a shift from the purpose of high schools as being preparation for either college or work, to keeping teenagers in school as long as possible (Angus & Mirel, 1999). This period was generally marked by the heralding of the comprehensive high school as the institution best suited to educate America’s teenagers (Wraga, 2000).
The postwar era saw a continuance of debates reminiscent of the ideals proposed from The Committee of Ten and the Cardinal Principles (Angus & Mirer, 1999), with a handful of scathing publications criticizing the outcomes of Progressive Education (Gregory & Smith, 1987). Concern about the efficacy of the comprehensive high school model and the quality of the curriculum became an issue of national security with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 (Angus & Meril, 1999; Wraga, 2000). As a matter of national priority there was a sudden resurgence in focusing on training scientists and engineers and major reform efforts were initiated to ensure that America would surpass the Russians (Fraser, 2001). An inundation of criticism headed by Admiral Hyman Rickover bombarded leading educators with recommendations to return to a rigorous basic education that would prepare the nation’s leaders (Fraser, 2001). Rickover attributed most of the problems facing American education to the commitment to a comprehensive education for all and declining standards (Angus & Meril, 1999).
With substantial support from the Carnegie Corporation and the media, James Conant’s report The American High School Today (1959) put an end to the high school curriculum debates and paved the way for the comprehensive high school for the next 20 years (Angus & Meril, 1999). Distinguishing himself as the champion of the comprehensive high school, Conant won over the American public during the hostile cold war era by promoting the democratic purpose of the comprehensive high school and embracing both the specializing and unifying functions (Wraga, 2000). According to Conant,
the three main objectives of a comprehensive high school are: first, to provide a general education for all the future citizens; second, to provide good elective programs for those who wish to use their acquired skills immediately on graduation; third, to provide satisfactory programs for those whose vocations will depend on their subsequent education in a college or university. (Conant, 1959, p. 17)
Rooted in the principals of curricular differentiation, Conant recommended that the preparation of the academically gifted be addressed through ability grouping within subjects as opposed to tracking students into groups for every course (Conant, 1959). His landmark report provided educational leaders with 21 recommendations for improving secondary education that can be found in most American highs schools today in the form of graduation requirements, counseling, gifted and remedial programs, organization of the school day, summer school, honors recognition, as well as specific recommendations for core subject areas.
Convinced that low high school enrollment numbers could only provide for curricular options and produce high academic standards at an exorbitant expense, Conant became a champion for the elimination of small schools that contained graduating classes of 100 or less (Conant, 1959). According to Conant, “A small high school cannot by its very nature offer a comprehensive curriculum” (Conant, 1959, p. 77). Subsequently, Conant led the charge for school consolidation in an effort to provide for a differentiated curriculum and to support the democratic ideal.
The creation of the large comprehensive high school was also partly a result of the population of the United States having quadrupled between 1890 and 1990 with the number of 16-year-olds increasing from 1.3 million to 3.6 million (Schaller, 2000). According to Schaller, in 1930 the average high school enrollment was 183 students; in 1960 the average enrollment had climbed to 329 students, and by 1990 the average high school enrollment was 515 students per school. Additionally, the acceptance and promotion by Americans to embrace large institutions during the latter half of the 20th century, and the notion that it is acceptable to act hostile towards small institutions seemed to support the acceptance of large schools. Both the internal and external national climate were supportive of the trend toward creating large public high schools, with state legislatures providing financial incentives for small high schools to consolidate (Schaller, 2000). Believing that size translated into excellence, reformers sought to close small schools and move adolescents into large factory model schools (National Association of Secondary School Principals [NASSP], 1996) and by 1995 the big public school became a reality for two-thirds of all American secondary students (Schaller, 2000).
Although social unrest and progress in the area of human rights characterized the 1960s and 1970s in America, the comprehensive high school remained relatively stable with student course taking patterns fundamentally unchanged (Angus & Mirel, 1999). The authors assert that differentiated programs increased as reformers looked to the schools to meet their needs by providing students with an education that would address topics such as Black history and culture, career choices, and life experiences. The Cardinal Principles held strong and educators were more than happy to tout the benefits of differentiated curriculum to meet the social needs of America (Angus & Meril, 1999), evident by the popularity of courses such as sociology, consumer education, drama, and environmental science (Wraga, 2000).
Beginning in the 1980s there was an immediate assault on the status quo of the American public school system (Angus & Mirel, 1999) and subsequently direct reform efforts to improve economic competitiveness ensued (Wraga, 1999). On April 26, 1983, the United States Department of Education’s National Commission on Excellence in Education issued its critical report on the status of American schools, A Nation at Risk (The National Commission on Excellence in Education [NCEE], 1983). Initially chartered to pay particular attention to teenage youth, A Nation at Risk identified for the American public 13 risk indicators such as functional illiteracy, lower standardized test scores, lack of higher order thinking skills, steady decline in science achievement, increased concern regarding the academic ability of high school graduates from American business and military leaders, and international comparisons demonstrating that Americans were falling behind their foreign counterparts in 19 academic tests.
We report to the American people that while we can take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. (NCEE, 1983, p. 5)
The NCEE offered solutions to the problems that became central to debates about the American high school and for the first time since the 1950s, called for severe limitations of curricular differentiation that would reduce the comprehensiveness of secondary education by focusing on college preparatory courses (Angus & Mirel, 1999; Wraga, 2000). Along with raising expectations and standards, devoting more time to academic study, plans for improving teacher quality, and accountability for educational leaders, the NCEE recommended that all high school students take a set of required academic courses known as the New Basics. The NCEE report made it clear to the American public that certain courses such as math, science, and English were more important than others and all students should follow essentially the same high school academic program regardless of their post-graduation plans.
Throughout the remainder of the 20th century, “the very idea of the differentiated curriculum, an idea that was absolutely basic to the modern, American, comprehensive high school, came under serious and sustained attack from several quarters for the first time in history” (Angus & Mirel, 1999, p. 195). Reaffirming the problems presented in A Nation at Risk and demonstrating an historical shift in thinking about the structure and purpose of the American modern high school (Angus & Mirel, 1999), several major studies and subsequent reports challenging curricular differentiation were published during the 1980s.
In 1983, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching funded a three-year study conducted by Boyer. Boyer’s High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America, identified the American high school as adrift and in dire need of a vision and a clarification of the goals of education (Boyer, 1983). Providing detailed evidence of the shortcomings of an American high school education, Boyer determined the existence of a large gap between school achievement and the purpose of secondary education and asserted that the battle for the future of America would be won or lost in the public schools. In terms of the differentiated curriculum identified as the hallmark of the comprehensive high school, Boyer recommended an expansion of the required core curriculum from one-half to two-thirds of the total units required for graduation. The core curriculum would include traditional academic courses with emphasis on the written and oral use of English, and although he did not formally repudiate a differentiated curriculum, Boyer’s addition of required courses would effectively decrease elective course-taking patterns.
Powell, Farrar, and Cohen (1985) make similar points in their report from a five-year study into adolescent education called A Study of High Schools. Examining several critical themes emerging from an inquiry into 15 high schools, Powell et al. shed light on how schools must address their simultaneous commitments to the conflicting demands of society. In doing so, the authors assert that students wander around the halls selecting their courses as if in a shopping mall and are rarely intellectually challenged. Echoing the cry of mediocrity, the authors paint a picture that characterizes the American high school as an institution focusing on student choice rather than academic rigor and excellence. To address the lack of value towards high academic achievement, the authors recommend a new emphasis on traditional subject matter, demand that all students demonstrate the ability to perform such higher order thinking skills, and include mastery learning.
Goodlad (1984) attacked the practice of tracking characteristic of comprehensive high schools and differentiated curriculum by reporting from findings of a study of 38 schools that included 12 high schools. According to Goodlad, “American schools are in trouble. In fact, the problems of schooling are of such crippling proportions that many schools may not survive” (Goodlad, 1984, p. 1). The author asserted that tracking exacerbated social and racial inequities and that there were significant differences in the content, instructional delivery, and student-teacher relationships across levels. The author reported that track placement determined the type of educational environment experienced and that students in the upper or more advanced tracks had an unfair advantage in areas such as teacher expectations and depth of class discussions. Additionally, Goodlad found that minority and economically disadvantaged students were most likely to be placed in the lower tracks and therefore were exposed more often to environments associated with poor achievement. To remedy this problem, Goodlad recommended heterogeneous groupings and a common core of studies required of all students. Goodlad’s concern is supported by current theories on learning and intelligence that have changed drastically and indicate the inefficacy and inequality of tracking (Oxley, 1994).
According to Angus and Mirel (1999), high school student course taking patterns began to take an historic shift due to this presence of critical national reports and subsequent public concern, increased graduation requirements, and interest from politicians and employers. The authors assert that a long-term trend dating back to the turn of the century of taking vocational and personal development courses was altered as high school students began enrolling in more academic subjects such as science, mathematics, foreign language, and computer training. However, the differentiated curriculum engrained in the comprehensive high school was not abandoned as educators developed less demanding courses in the academic subject areas to meet the new graduation requirements and tougher standards.
Size and Organization
During the past 20 years, the assumption that larger is better has come under fire, with research focusing on the failure of the comprehensive high school encompassing several areas of inadequacy. The alienating effect on students and faculty created by the size and structure of the comprehensive high school has taken precedence in contemporary discussions, and has paved the way for reform initiatives centered on changing the culture and organization of the school, reducing school size, and creating learning communities (Gregory & Smith, 1987).
In the forefront of the research and literature on the comprehensive high school is the isolation experienced by students due to size and organization. Oxley (1994) asserts that current research indicates attendance, student involvement, and school climate are adversely affected by large school size, and that there exists little evidence to support high enrollment numbers on educational grounds. Oxley reports that school dropout rates increase as well as vandalism and violence, and suggests that students from low socioeconomic status may be less able to succeed in large school settings due to the decline in social and psychological support from their families and communities. Pittman and Haughwout (1987) concur, and provide a convincing research based argument linking school size and dropout rate to the social climate.
McQuillan (1997) expands on the issue and maintains that the comprehensive high school is inhumane. The author argues that the undemocratic, uninspiring, and profoundly uncaring nature of the comprehensive high school inhibits the institutional goal of educational growth. He charges that comprehensive schools cannot promote understanding, learning and trust, due to the dehumanization of the institution itself. Students are not provided the means to mold their own education, and teachers cannot understand each student as a learner due to structural constraints. Few experiences could be less democratic than a high school education according to McQuillan. The structure of the school is designed in a way that denies students representation as active participants in the school society. McQuillan presents research that supports his view that the American high school creates students that are passive, subordinate recipients of information, not as responsible participants in a school community.
The belief that students receive a mediocre and inauthentic education is another critical problem with the comprehensive high school (McQuillan, 1997). The students do not deem learning desirable, and consider school as something to be tolerated, “a rite of passage to be endured for no other reason than most others have endured the same” (McQuillan, 1997, p. 646). The demeaning, anonymous nature of the comprehensive high school enables students to get lost in the shuffle and in turn lose themselves. In continuing his argument, McQuillan refers to studies that suggest that the organization of the comprehensive high school discourages teachers from attempting to reach students. The infrastructure of the school in not conducive to one-to-one interactions, and does not reward teachers who make the efforts to reach students. Sizer (1999) concurs and adds that the faculty loads-per-teacher are extremely heavy and make it impossible for them to be fully effective. Sizer asserts that large caseloads force teachers to standardize the individuality of each student, and believes this human quality is something that cannot be standardized. “Anonymity is the curse of the overloaded, overspecialized, overcomplicated American comprehensive high school (Sizer, 1999, p. 30). Klonsky and Klonsky (1999) further this notion and argue that anonymity is the enemy in terms of student engagement in learning, and may be the cause of such grave consequences as the recent shootings occurring in American schools. Schnitzer and Caprio (1999) concur and attest that with the exception of a small few, many students lose their identities and are more likely to have discipline and violence problems. Sergiovanni (1994) contends that children are addressing this sense of anonymity by creating dysfunctional substitutes for a community, such as gangs, because there is a natural need to feel a sense of belonging. “If gangs substitute for family and neighborhood by providing students with the sense of community that they need, then schools must create substitutes for gangs by providing an alternative sense of community that makes more sense to students” (Sergiovanni, 1994, p. xiv). The author stresses that comprehensive high schools are too large and impersonal to form the sense of community that is necessary to be the substitute.
From reviewing multiple studies and literature concerning the structure of high school organizations, Bryk, Lee, and Smith (1990) conclude that small is undoubtedly better, with the optimal school size being between 500 and 600 students. According to the authors, current research shows that the promise of fiscal resources available to large schools, one of the consolidation arguments presented by Conant (1959), is contingent upon the socioeconomic status of the surrounding community and therefore is not equitable (Bryk, Lee, & Smith, 1990). The authors assert that recent case studies and reports have identified negative effects associated with large schools such as the social stratification in academic outcomes and learning opportunities, alienation, and a sense of detachment from the school by students as well as teachers. Additionally, the authors report a sense of community to be less common in large schools, and speculate this to be attributed to the departmental system found in most comprehensive high schools. In an editor’s forward on replacing the comprehensive high school, Raywid (1997) summarizes the general consensus of articles reviewed to be that the departmental system impedes any unified vision the school may have, and can prove to be a powerful barrier to school-wide communication and a sense of community. Conceding that there is little empirical research available that connects the subject area departmental system and the academic achievement of students, Siskin and Little (1995) have identified organizational and social conditions deemed supportive of teachers as not necessarily beneficial to students as a recurrent theme in the literature.
Current Reform Initiatives
As a means of addressing the problems found in the comprehensive high school such as student alienation, poor attendance, the achievement gap, and high drop-out rates, reform efforts have centered on the creation of learning communities that will provide students with a sense of belonging, personalization within the environment, and a belief that a high school education is meaningful and desirable (NASSP, 1996; Oxley, 1997). The building of relationships, the promotion of affective attachment, the necessity of a learning culture, and the organizational structures required for effective implementation are all components of reform initiatives evident within the literature (Bryk, Lee, & Smith, 1990; Gregory & Smith; 1987).
The necessity to create a learning community in America’s public schools was familiarized from the effective schools literature (Raywid, 1993) and is evident throughout much of the reform literature (Gregory & Smith, 1987; Oxley, 1997; Sergiovanni; 1994). Sergiovanni (1994) urges educators to change the metaphor for schools from that of organizations to communities, and stresses the notion that communities are organized around relationships. The author identifies characteristics of communities centered around the bonding and connection of people to purposes based on commitments, that in turn bind them to concepts, images, and values that embrace a shared vision. According to Sergiovanni, the defining elements of schools as communities is this bonding and binding, and the subsequent creation of “values, sentiments, and beliefs that provide the needed conditions for creating a sense of we from a collection of Is” (Sergiovanni, 1994, p. 217).
In an attempt to supplement the literature on community as it applies to schools and describe communities found in alternative school settings, Raywid (1993) identifies qualities characteristic of school communities. Along with respect, inclusiveness, trust, empowerment, and commitment, Raywid identifies care as an ever-present characteristic manifested in the extent to which some alternative schools have personalized learning experiences and activities. Stressing that care differs from respect, Raywid defines care as both particularistic in that it is deliberately extended differentially to people to meet their unique needs, and proactive in that it is initiated rather than reactive. Care is exemplified in a teachers act of reaching out to students, in turn showing them appreciation, support, regard, and approval.
Viewing the teacher’s role from a communitarian perspective, Bryk, Lee, and Smith (1990) summarize literatures that support the necessity for school communities and identify the need for a pervasive ethic of caring throughout schools. The extended role of teachers in learning communities requires continuous and sustained contact with students in order to respond to their needs as a whole person, with the added benefit of these personal relationships outside of class being the catalyst for increased student engagement (Bryk, Lee, & Smith, 1990). The authors suggest that the current practice of departmentalization and specialization conflict with communitarian conceptions of school and may be causing inequitable consequences for at risk students who feel more alienated in high school learning environments than their traditionally successful counterparts. Acknowledging that their review of the literature reinforces the communitarian perspective, the authors stress the importance of including extant research that strongly supports curricular organization as the primary means of impacting student achievement across race and socioeconomic status, and argue that “any embrace of the vision of a school as a community must be integrated with the view of the school as a formal organization that seeks to rationally, effectively, and efficiently promote student learning” (Bryk, Lee, & Smith, 1990, p. 188).
In a critique of reports characterizing the range of thought regarding the comprehensive high school that includes works from Sizer (1984), Boyer (1983), NCEE (1983), Lightfoot (1983), and Goodlad (1984), Gregory and Smith (1987) assert that the building of a sense of community is a critical concept in any discussion on school reform. Linking a sense of community with school culture via an analogy of the atom as culture with community as its nucleus, the authors define community as “the binding force that draws the people of a culture into a more or less harmonious interactive network” (Gregory & Smith, 1987, p. 50). Noting the contemporary family as an institution under great stress is not able to provide many opportunities for children to obtain emotional support in caring environments, the authors see strong school communities as meeting this need though caring teachers and students, with the communities being created from these visible acts of caring. Identifying the unrealized potential of communities as a means for addressing the depersonalization of schools, student alienation, repression, apathy and boredom, Gregory and Smith argue that the key to rectifying the situation is to reduce school size so that a sense of community can be established, and that building a sense of community is the most fundamental step in improving the American comprehensive high school.
Oxley (1997) presents an ecological framework for school communities and asserts that for school restructuring efforts to be successful they must delineate features across multiple, interrelated dimensions such as structure, process, and goals. Oxley (1997) describes school communities as having members who are bound by personal ties as opposed to utilitarian ties characteristic of bureaucratic organizations, and states that community members care about each other because they perform practical functions for one another and share common experiences. Communities, according to Oxley, can cultivate a strong sense of belonging for students and subsequently provide them with instruction that is meaningful. Teachers interact with students both inside and outside of the classroom. They are invested in the students and the students are invested in the school. The community provides for a more meaningful context in which to learn, and there is a sense of ownership and a feeling among all members that it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure the community strives.
The report Breaking Ranks (1996) from the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Carnegie Foundation provides the field with a comprehensive set of recommendations for improving the American high school under the overarching theme of a student-centered environment and increased personalization in programs, support services, and intellectual rigor. Breaking Ranks presents six main themes for school improvement at the high school level. Personalization of the learning environment is the first of these themes and calls for breaking large schools down into units of no more than 600 students. Also included are coherency of the curriculum with an emphasis on real world applications, flexibility of time with the recommendation for abandoning the Carnegie unit, long-term plans for integrating technology, professional development that is valued and prepares teachers for their new roles and responsibilities, and strong leadership. Although not specifically identified as one of the six main themes of the report, the emphasis on the need for a sense of community is apparent throughout the report by the extensive inclusion of phrases such as “high school community,” “a high school will regard itself as a community,” “create a learning community,” and “larger school community.” Additionally, identified as a priority for renewal is the recommendation that “Teachers will convey a sense of caring to their students so that their students feel that their teachers share a stake in their learning” (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1996, p. 17).
The leadership and school improvement literature contain numerous references and recommendations for the creation of professional learning communities. Sometimes intertwined with the term learning organizations (Sergiovanni, 1994; Ubben, Hughes, & Norris, 2001) professional learning communities are characterized by shared mission, vision, and values, collective inquiry, collaborative teams, action orientation and experimentation, continuous improvement, and an orientation towards results (DuFour & Eaker, 1998). Conscious efforts to build community take the form of engaged classrooms, advisory programs, collaboration, creating positive relationships with parents, peer mediation (Daniels, Bizar, & Zemelman, 2001), the purposeful examination of the sociological and psychological nature of groups (Ubben, Hughes, & Norris, 2001), and emphasis on the ability of the principal to mold the culture of a school and be an instructional leader (Black, 1997; Dufour, 1999). Additionally, it has been suggested that learning organizations or communities are characterized by systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared values, and team learning (Senge, 2000).
Several educational initiatives and research projects have been undertaken to address the issue of building a sense of community in the public schools and improving the state of the comprehensive high school. One of the design goals identified by Copa (1999) stemming from research funded by the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education through the National Center for Research in Vocational Education is for the new high school to operate more as a learning community. The sense of community was incorporated into the original New Designs for the Comprehensive High School in 1992 because stakeholders interviewed stated that they longed for their schools to have a greater sense of caring, common and high expectations, and a sense of ownership (Copa, 1999). Copa (2000) presents an impact study of the New Designs for Creating the Comprehensive High School model on student learning at two early adapters, ultimately determining that a cause and effect relationship could not be established.
The Small Schools Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the College of Education at the University of Washington works with comprehensive high schools committed to reorganizing into smaller, autonomous schools, as well as with new small schools (Small Schools Project, n.d.). The Small Schools Project defines small schools as schools that share a common set of characteristics including enrollment between 200 and 400 students, autonomy, a distinct focus, personalization, committed to equity, high parent involvement, data driven decision making, and schools of choice open to any student in the community. Building upon research supporting the benefits of small schools (Cotton, 2001; Howley & Bickel, 2000; Wasley & Lear, 2001), the Small Schools Project reports greater personalization, cost effectiveness, increased safety, and higher student achievement particularly for minority students in smaller high schools.
During the past decade numerous small schools have been established making available an extensive amount of research supporting the benefits of high school reform centering on the creation of small schools (Wasley & Lear, 2001). Asserting that research has consistently demonstrated that small schools are superior or equal to large ones on many applicable measures such as narrowing the achievement gap, Cotton (2001) summarizes research findings from successful small schools and provides the field with a broad range report that includes the conditions necessary to make small schools succeed. Emphasizing that small is not enough, Cotton stresses the importance of the creation of an environment that acts as a facilitating force in enhancing collegiality, personalizing relationships, and promoting increased academic achievement. The author identifies a theme of size within the literature as it relates to the creation of the school as a community and concludes that the research recommends enrollments of 400 or less. Cotton also identifies several structures of small schools such as theme-based schools, freestanding schools, alternative schools, schools-within-a schools, school-within-a building, house plans, career clusters, and multiplex arrangements in an attempt to clarify the various types of small schools that have been created. Touting the outcomes based on research of small learning communities that include the reduction of the negative effects of poverty, less truancy and fewer dropouts, increased teacher satisfaction, and increased student achievement, Cotton reiterates the importance of the lower enrollment numbers making it possible to achieve success via the creation of community, not the small size in and of itself. The lower enrollment numbers enable the most effective practices of the small learning community such as self-determination, identity, personalization, support for teaching, and functional accountability to occur. Additionally, Cotton identifies a new trend in the literature that addresses small school reform measures as it relates to race and socio economic status. Cotton emphasizes the need for more multicultural participation in the small schools movement as there appears to be a growing concern that the movement lacks explicit dialogue on race, may contribute to segregation, and that the established white leadership sets the tone and agenda for the school, possibly ignoring cultural factors.
Conclusions
This portion of the literature review provides the reader with a history of the creation of the comprehensive high school, culminating in recent reform efforts initiated to address a number of the concerns presented. Relevant to this study, the conclusion of this portion of the literature review will focus on the concerns raised in the past 20 years and the movement toward addressing these concerns through the creation of learning communities.
In the forefront of the criticism about the comprehensive high school is the alienating nature and the feelings of isolation experienced by many students due to the school’s size and structure. Teachers are not afforded the opportunity to connect with students and build strong relationships as they have too many students, little time for meaningful interactions, and receive no incentives for reaching students. Structural constraints limit their ability to know each student as an individual learner and according to many of the authors presented, act to perpetuate an uncaring environment where students remain anonymous, subsequently having an adverse affect on student engagement. The impersonal nature and structure of the school discourages students from becoming active members of the school community and neglects to provide students with a means to address their innate need for a sense of belonging. The alienating affects may be even more pronounced for students from low socioeconomic status and minority students as they may have less social and psychological support, and are often placed in lower tracked courses where teacher expectations are lower and supportive student-teacher relationships do not flourish.
Recent reform efforts have tackled the problems of poor attendance, the achievement gap, and high drop-out rates deemed to be a result of the alienating nature of the comprehensive high school by supporting the creation of learning communities. Having established that communities are organized around relationships, many reform efforts suggest that the creation of learning communities will provide students with a sense of belonging, an understanding that education is meaningful and desirable, personalization within the environment, affective attachment, and a connection of people to purpose based on shared commitments and a shared vision.
Evident in many aspects of the reform literature presented in this section of the review is the importance care plays in the creation of learning communities. Whether identified simply as a characteristic of personalized learning manifested via the actions of teachers deliberately addressing the individual needs of students, or as a conceptual framework identified as an ethic of care permeating all interactions, it is evident from the review that care is a crucial component to the creation of learning communities. Discussions on learning communities often emphasize the need for supportive, caring environments, community members that care about one another, and the recommendation that teachers convey a sense of caring both inside and outside of the school walls as a way of cultivating a strong sense of belonging felt by students. This ethic of care is also evident in the literature and research presented from initiatives to create learning communities by decreasing enrollment numbers and creating smaller schools.
Conclusion: Review of Literature
The purpose of this review of literature is to provide the reader with an examination of the scholarly work that has been explored in the areas of teacher caring, the achievement gap, and the comprehensive high school. By assessing the existing knowledge in the three areas presented, it is this author’s intent to establish the need for additional study concentrating on the intersection of aspects of the three fields of inquiry related to the purpose of the present investigation. Additionally, this section of the review will identify elements presented in each area within the context of a research-based comprehensive high school reform template.
As presented in Chapter One of this research, the purpose of this study is to discover the importance of teacher care with respect to the academic achievement of African American high school students. Established in the three literatures presented is the necessity for educators to provide students with a sense of care within the educational environment. Care in and of itself has been determined to be a human necessity vital to the very nature and purpose of education, and is a critical component of successful educational endeavors. The concept that care is grounded in reciprocal relationships, is active, experiential, participatory and responds to the human need for a sense of belonging and membership, serves as a link to the literature on the problems associated with the comprehensive high school and the current reform efforts centered on the creation of learning communities (DuFour & Eacker, 1998; NASSP, 1996). Evident in the literature is the connection between a sense of care felt by students and belonging to a community and the importance of the visible acts of caring exemplified by teachers within the learning community. As the impact effective teachers has on the academic achievement of students has been clearly established and a connection has been made between teacher caring relationships and student engagement, it seems plausible to this researcher that the ability of teachers to convey a sense of caring to their students be imperative in any discussion on increasing academic achievement.
The comprehensive high school has been shown to be an uncaring environment for many students due to its size and the organizational structures that reinforce anonymity. Teachers are not afforded the time to connect with their students and build relationships, in turn promoting the alienating nature of the school culture and discouraging students’ attempts to meet their innate need for a sense of belonging. The creation of a sense of community felt by the inhabitants of the comprehensive high school has proved to be fairly difficult if not impossible. Summarizing results from the previously presented study on students’ sense of belonging, Osterman states, “The findings suggest that students’ experience of acceptance influences multiple dimensions of their behavior but that schools adopt organizational practices that neglect and may actually undermine students’ experience of membership in a supportive community” (p. 323). As communities are organized around relationships it appears that not only does the modern American high school keep these relationships from being established, it might in fact systematically promote school cultures that discourage the creation of caring and supportive relationships between teachers and students. The difficulties teachers have in communicating and establishing relationships with students are evident in the following data gathered from the Metlife Survey of the American Teacher.
1. Four in ten teachers (44%) strongly agree that teachers in their school think about students as individuals, and not as part of some group.
2. Four in ten teachers (42%) strongly agree that they are able to teach to their students’ individual strengths and weaknesses.
3. One-quarter of teachers (24%) strongly agree that they know what’s going on in there students’ lives outside of school.
4. Two in ten teachers (22%) report that they very often have one-on-one conversations with students about their interests and talents.
5. Fifteen percent of teachers report that they speak very often with students about their worries. (Metlife, 2002, p. 7)
Teachers in schools with more than two-thirds minority students are less likely than those with few minority students to report that teachers in their school:
1. Know a lot about the surrounding community (34% vs. 56%).
2. Think of students as individuals (34% vs. 49%).
3. Respect all students (23% vs. 37%).
4. Are interested in what’s best for all students (46% vs. 54%). (Metlife, 2002, p. 7)
It has been suggested in this review that schools should focus more on internal resources such as teachers and their ability to expand their role to include provisions for building bridges to students’ engagement to counter the external forces working against engagement (Cothran & Ennis, 2000). The information gleaned from the Metlife Survey would seem to suggest that schools, possibly due to time and organizational constraints, have a long way to go in supporting teachers’ efforts towards building relationships that provide the foundation for the construction of these bridges.
This review of literature has established the urgency to address the academic achievement gap and has suggested that the key to improving the academic achievement of minority students may be based in a more caring relational domain as opposed to an academic domain. Studies have been presented that connect the relationship between students’ perceptions of school warmth that included a component of care with academic achievement, and an emerging body of research has been discussed suggesting that African American students’ perceptions that their teachers care about their academic performance and their lives outside of school may have an impact on their engagement, subsequently impacting their academic achievement. Stereotype threat and its relationship to affirmative development has been presented as a barrier to positive academic outcomes for minority students, with the message that trust in the educational institution and teachers is imperative to counter the effects of an antiacademic orientation and oppositional identities. While issues of trust are evident for all students, it appears from data reviewed from the Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher focusing on the secondary school experience, that minority and students from low socioeconomic status are more distrustful of teachers.
1. Four in ten (39%) secondary school students trust their teachers only a little or not at all.
2. Minority students are more likely than non-minority students to report this level of trust (47% vs. 37%).
3. Students whose families have a hard time buying things (53%) are more likely than those with just enough (39%) or who can buy anything (38%) to report this level of trust. (Metlife, 2000, p. 10)
As was presented within this review, feelings of trust are linked to care through their connection to the creation of “relational diversity.” The term relational diversity includes the insecurities experienced by some African American students when they are faced with determining whether or not to trust that the information being furnished by their teachers is reflective of their performance or is a result of their teachers’ beliefs about their race. For example, if African American students are able to see that teachers are providing them with critical feedback because they are truly concerned about their academic achievement and care about them, they are better able to accept the feedback and not discount it due to racial bias. This is a critical consideration as many educators enter the classroom with preconceived notions about the abilities of students from varying racial and economic status which can impact their expectations of these students, resulting in differential treatment. This combined with the social conditions and lack of support experienced by many low-income and minority youth, as well as the phenomenon of relational diversity creates an even greater need to craft connections for these students, subsequently placing more of the responsibility for their academic achievement on teachers.
Teachers play a major role in determining whether students feel that they are cared for and that they are a welcome part of the school community. Not all students, however, experience teacher support. Research consistently establishes that students receive differential treatment from teachers on basis of characteristics such as race, gender, class, ability, and appearance, and that differentiation begins early in the school career and increases as students progress through school. (Osterman, 2000, p. 351)
The National Association of Secondary School Principal’s template Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform (2004) provides the field with a working document that incorporates aspects of the three literatures presented to address the problems with the comprehensive high school and initiate substantial reform efforts. Breaking Ranks II is a stand alone document that builds upon the 1996 NASSP roadmap for reform, Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution. Intended to assist principals by providing a more practical, more manageable implementation tool for high school reform, Breaking Ranks II contains 31 core recommendations divided into the three realms of Collaborative Leadership and Professional Learning Communities, Personalization and the School Environment, and Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Interwoven throughout these three realms are critical aspects of the three literatures presented in this review.
In terms of teacher care, it is clear throughout Breaking Ranks II that care is deemed necessary for greater academic outcomes for all students. In the realm of Personalization and the School Environment, there is a definite emphasis on care and the importance of building relationships with students. Examples of recommendations from this realm follow:
1. High schools will create small units in which anonymity is banished.
2. Each high school teacher involved in the instructional program on a full-time basis will be responsible for contact time with no more than 90 students during a given term so that the teacher can give greater attention to the needs of every student.
3. Every high school student will have a Personal Adult Advocate to help him or her personalize the educational experience.
4. Teachers will convey a sense of caring so that students feel that their teachers share a stake in student learning. (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2004, p. 18)
The word “Personalization” contained in the title of this realm acknowledges several of the contemporary concerns presented within this review surrounding the comprehensive high school, as well as the significance of caring teacher-student relationships. Many of the concepts highlighted in Breaking Ranks II as they relate to interactions in personalized learning have been identified in this review of literature. These include but are not limited to trust, acceptance, respect, confirmation, belonging, and community.
The emphasis on the creation of learning communities and ensuring that students feel they are part of the school community is evident throughout Breaking Ranks II. The following are a few recommendations reflective of this aspect of the literature review.
1. A high school will regard itself as a community in which members of the staff collaborate to develop and implement the school’s learning goals.
2. The principal will provide leadership in the high school community by building and maintaining vision, direction, and focus for student learning.
3. Each high school will establish a site council and accord other meaningful roles in decision making to students, parents, and members of the staff in order to promote student learning and an atmosphere of participation, responsibility, and ownership. (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2004, p. 17)
In terms of the achievement gap, Breaking Ranks II poses the question within the preface, “Have we done enough to reach and engage each student who enters our school system, regardless of socioeconomic status, ability level, or ethic background?” (p. v). The identifiable realms are created around the need to improve performance for all students, yet it is clear throughout the publication that it is unacceptable to continue the practices that only provide some students with opportunities for success.
Either explicitly stated or implied, it is evident that several components of the three literatures presented are considered to be integral components of Breaking Ranks II. Teacher caring, concerns about closing the academic achievement gap, and concerns about the lack of a sense of community experienced by individuals in comprehensive high schools are in the forefront of reform efforts.
There is a call from the field supporting the need for investigation into the role care and the creation of communities play in the academic achievement of minority students. Focusing on the interaction between teacher involvement and student engagement for low-income African American students, Tucker et al. (2002) request investigation about the specific ways teachers can best demonstrate involvement that students will perceive as favorable. Osterman (2000) asserts that while there are numerous studies that provide recommendations for ways schools can support the development of community and enhance student learning, there exists a substantial discrepancy between theory and practice. Others promote the combination of research-based educational interventions with relevant forms of educational capital (Bennett et al., 2004) and the consulting with low-achieving students when designing interventions to improve students’ performance (Noguera, 2003).
There appears to be a powerful interplay between the amount and type of teacher involvement and care experienced by African American students, the importance of care in educational settings and its relationship to engagement, and the sheer impossibility of feeling a sense of belonging in the American high school. When considering the information and extent research presented in this review, the notion of these three elements converging and having an impact on the academic achievement of African American high school students seems quite possible. Also possible is the potential of teachers altering the course that is followed by many African American high school students through their ability to express an active interest in them, show genuine concern for their learning as well as their lives outside of school, and in their ability to establish strong teacher-student relationships that will initiate feelings of belonging in the school community.
Communities are organized around relationships and discussions on the creation of learning communities that permeate the reform literature involve changing the nature of teacher-student relationships. Care has been identified as a necessary element of both communities and positive teacher-student relationships, and may even be more important for African American students. Based on this review of literature, it is suggested by this researcher that perceptions of teacher care may have an impact on academic achievement of African American students.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter will provide the reader with a presentation and discussion of the method of inquiry and research design utilized in this study. Identified will be the appropriateness of the selection of a qualitative case study approach to research as it pertains to the purpose of this exploration. The research design presented will include a profile of the comprehensive high school that is the site of the present investigation, the participants of the study, and procedures and methods for data collection. In addition, selected instruments used to measure teacher caring will be presented and considerations regarding the protection of human subjects will be raised.
Rationale for Research Approach
When an individual is considering engaging in a qualitative inquiry, Creswell (1998) recommends that the researcher determine whether a strong rationale exists for choosing this approach. The following section presents a reiteration of the purpose of this study and offers eight reasons provided by Creswell for selecting a qualitative inquiry to substantiate the rationale for the research approach selected. Relevant contributions from writers in the field are included in addition to the corresponding components of the present study that were referenced by this researcher when determining the tradition of inquiry.
As presented in Chapter One, this investigation intends to answer the following question as a means of increasing the depth of understanding of teacher care and academic achievement for African American high school students at Setting High School. “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School concerning teacher care and could these perceptions affect their academic achievement?” The questions that guide this investigation are:
1. What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School?
2. Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
3. Are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
According to Creswell (1998), a researcher embarking on an investigation should first identify the nature of the research question and then select the tradition of inquiry most apt to find the answer. The contrasting research orientations of qualitative and quantitative inquiry afford distinctive research question formulation and purpose. In order to provide for initial exploration and description of what is occurring, qualitative research questions often begin with a “how” or a “what”? Quantitative research questions in contrast, search for a relationship between variables in an effort to establish cause and effect, an association, or a relationship (Creswell, 1998).
Creswell’s recommendation is supported by others who distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research by placing emphasis on the purpose of inquiry. Unlike quantitative research where there is a search for the cause of some effect, qualitative research, according to Stake (1995), seeks to understand the happenings and the complex interrelationships between all that exists. In qualitative research the inquiry shifts its focus from hypothesizing explanations indicative of quantitative studies, to promoting understanding. Krathwohl (1998) adds that quantitative studies often begin with a hypothesis and seek to verify it, while qualitative studies seek to inductively develop an explanation that grows out of the data. Additionally, according to Krathwohl, the research question should determine the approach utilized; and qualitative procedures are extremely useful when the researcher wishes to find out how to understand the phenomena being studied.
Support for selecting a qualitative approach to inquiry has been established as the present investigation seeks to increase the understanding of African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and their academic achievement by asking “what’ questions. The nature of the research questions selected will enable the inductive development of an explanation of the meaning of the social phenomena being studied.
Creswell’s second reason for selecting a qualitative study centers upon the need for the topic to be explored. The author elaborates by asserting that a qualitative approach should be selected when “variables cannot easily be identified, theories are not available to explain behavior of participants or their population of study, and theories need to be developed” (Creswell, 1998, p. 17). While not explicitly stated, this elaboration focuses on the construction of meaning that pervades the literature on qualitative research. As a concept, qualitative research encompasses several approaches that include inductive research, ethnography, field study, interpretive research, participant research, naturalistic inquiry, and case study research. Identifiable among each of these approaches are unique capabilities for investigating the creation of socially constructed meaning by individuals interacting within their environments.
Qualitative research is an umbrella concept as explained by Merriam (1998) that enables the understanding and explanation of the meaning of social phenomena, and is based on the view that reality is created via humans interacting with their social worlds. Asserting that there is never a single, fixed, agreed upon measurable phenomena characteristic of positivist quantitative research, Merriam argues, “instead, there are multiple constructions and interpretations of reality that are in flux and that change over time. Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding what those interpretations are at a particular point in time and in a particular context” (Merriam, 2002, pp. 3-4).
Constructivism is addressed by Stake (1995) as it relates to qualitative inquiry in the assertion that qualitative researchers promote the principle that knowledge or reality is constructed rather than discovered. From this view, the qualitative researcher provides readers with solid raw material that enables them to create generalizations within their own realities. According to Krathwohl (1998), “The qualitative researcher is concerned with how individuals perceive their world and sees reality as an interpretation of these perceptions constructed by the individual” (p. 23). Krathwohl continues by asserting that qualitative procedures are ideal for studying complex phenomena about which there is little knowledge and are especially helpful at facilitating understanding of the individual’s behavior by providing their perceptions of a situation.
Corresponding to the contributions of Merriam (2002), the purpose of this study and the supporting research questions explicitly state that the perceptions of African American students will be explored within the realm of teacher care in order to increase this researcher’s understanding of phenomena at a specific place within a particular context. A rationale for a qualitative approach is evident as well when referencing Krathwohl (1998) as the present study investigates African American students’ perceptions of a given situation, teacher care at their school, with the intent of increasing the understanding of the affect these perceptions have on their academic achievement. The perceptions of these students, or their construction of meaning formulated on the basis of these perceptions regarding teacher care, is central to the intent of the study. Additionally, and noted by Creswell (1998), there is not one easily identifiable variable or theory to explain the poor academic performance of the African American students at this particular setting. As the African American students are constantly interacting within their environment, the capabilities of qualitative research to investigate socially constructed meaning created by the students further support the selection of this approach to research.
The third reason provided by Creswell (1998) for selecting qualitative research is because of the need to present the topic of study in detail. Qualitative research is characterized as providing for a richly descriptive end product focusing on process, meaning, and understanding. According to Merriam:
Words and pictures rather than numbers are used to convey what the researcher has learned about a phenomenon. There are likely to be researcher descriptions of the context, the players involved, and the activities of interest. In addition, data in the form of participants’ own words, direct citations from documents, excerpts from videotapes, and so on, are likely to be included to support the findings of the study. (Merriam, 1998, p. 8)
Stake (1995) asserts that qualitative research attempts to create empathetic understanding via extensive description that conveys to the reader the true sense of the experience. “Thick description is not complexities objectively described; it is the particular perceptions of the actors” (Stake, 1995, p. 42). Krathwohl (1998) adds that qualitative procedures may be useful when detailed, in-depth information is sought containing description with many nuances that portray complex personal and interpersonal phenomena.
The present study incorporates rich description when answering the research questions presented. The data collection technique of interviews traditionally associated with qualitative inquiry is emphasized. The quantifiable data is viewed as a means of stabilizing the foundation of the stories told by the students, not conveying their message. It is intended that the data gleaned from the interviews will provide the reader with the “true sense of the experience” noted by Stake (1995), in addition to an increased understanding of the meaning the students assign to particular interactions and environmental conditions.
The fourth reason for engaging in qualitative inquiry provided by Creswell (1998) pertains to the researcher’s desire to study individuals in their natural setting in order to negate the possibilities of contrived findings that may occur when participants are removed from their setting. Qualitative research involves fieldwork with the researcher physically going to the people or site of study in order to examine behavior in its natural setting and to enable them to become intimately familiar with the phenomenon studied (Merriam, 1998).
Corresponding to the natural setting hallmark of qualitative inquiry, it is evident that the present study necessitates fieldwork as the perceptions of the participants are central to the purpose of the study. In a sense, this researcher already began the exploration into the field by purposefully initiating this study based on a preliminary familiarity with the phenomenon of interest. The focused intent of this study and subsequent fieldwork provides this researcher with increased awareness and understanding of the phenomena under examination.
Creswell’s (1998) fifth reason for engaging in qualitative inquiry is the researcher’s desire to write in a literary style where a storytelling form of narration is utilized. Krathwohl (1998) differentiates this characteristic of quantitative and qualitative inquiry by noting that quantitative studies describe behaviors with observational scales or measures and qualitative studies describe behaviors in words. Krathwohl suggests that an eloquent conveyance of meaning may only be possible via the use of words as they can conjure up vivid images that scores alone cannot. Merriam (2002) asserts that the use of a narrative writing style is currently popular in qualitative research and that, “the key to this type of qualitative research is the use of stories as data, and more specifically, first-person accounts of experiences told in story form” (p. 9).
One of the main goals of this researcher is to provide a voice for the African American students involved in this study by listening to their stories and conveying their messages to the reader. The sole use of quantitative data gleaned from a questionnaire combined with grade point averages will not suffice. The opportunity provided by the storytelling characteristic of qualitative research and the possibility of a greater impact on the reader appeals to this researcher as it relates to an optimistic outcome of the study. One of the goals of this study is to invoke the interest of educators at the site of the study in hopes to improve the educational opportunities and subsequently the academic achievement of the African American students at this setting.
Having sufficient time and resources to spend on data collection in the field and for detailed data analysis of written information is Creswell’s (1998) sixth reason for employing qualitative inquiry. Krathwohl (1998) adds that qualitative procedures require extensive hands-on attention from the researcher and that the organization and reduction of the mass amount of data accrued can be very time consuming.
The time-consuming characteristic of qualitative inquiry was explored, and it was determined that this researcher had the available time required to collect and analyze data relevant to the exploration. Additionally, this researcher had access to pertinent records that will further inform the investigation.
Creswell (1998) recommends that the researcher consider the audience when determining the approach to investigation and suggests that audiences are receptive to qualitative research. Merriam (1998) asserts that qualitative research designs are often the best approach when an individual has an interest in understanding and improving the practice of education. The author add that the greatest promise of making significant contributions to the knowledge base and practice of education can be found in research attentive to insight, discovery, and understanding from the perspectives of those being studied.
When considering embarking on a qualitative study, this researcher determined that there were two distinct audiences for the present study. The first audience consists of the academic scholars who comprise this researcher’s dissertation committee. A qualitative approach to inquiry enables the committee members to determine this researcher’s ability to apply academic knowledge to the problems of professional practice by reviewing among other assessments; the utilization of the hallmarks of the tradition of inquiry selected, the rigor of data collection procedures, the research design, the analysis of data, and the conclusions presented. The second audience consists of the practitioners who work for the school district that is the site of the investigation, specifically the teachers and administrators at the high school attended by the participants of the study. A qualitative approach to inquiry provides this audience with an inviting style of reporting that goes beyond the conveyance of statistics. It is extremely important to this researcher that faculty members and school personnel embrace the findings of the present study and it is believed that qualitative inquiry is best suited for the task.
The final reason provided by Creswell (1998) when considering a qualitative approach is the researcher’s desire to emphasize their role as a non-judgmental active learner who tells the story from the participants’ view rather than as an individual who claims to already understand the phenomena under investigation. Stake (1995) identifies the role of the researcher in qualitative inquiry as active and participatory throughout the process. “Standard qualitative designs call for the persons most responsible for interpretations to be in the field, making observations, exercising subjective judgment, analyzing, and synthesizing, all the while realizing their own consciousness” (Stake, 1995, p. 41). The reality that the typical research question in qualitative studies is usually oriented to seeking patterns of unanticipated and expected relationships of cases or phenomena necessitates the hands on interpretive powers of researcher involvement, creating the need for researchers to typically be in direct contact with the phenomena.
Krathwohl (1998) maintains that qualitative researchers utilize an inductive approach to defining the problem studied and often view the participants in the study as collaborators or teachers from whom they learn rather than as subjects. Merriam (1998) expounds upon the role of the researcher by identifying the researcher as the primary tool for data collection and analysis. The author treats the researcher as a human instrument of which data are mediated and empowers the researcher to respond to contextual factors, affording the researcher the ability to adapt and clarify techniques to the circumstances.
The emphasis on the role of the researcher was taken into account when considering a qualitative approach to inquiry. Theoretical sensitivity lead this researcher to this line of study; however there is the understanding that the student participants had much to teach the investigator, and that the path to this understanding necessitates an active relationship between the investigator and the phenomena. The ability for the researcher to function as an instrument for data collection, to interpret information gleaned from interviews with the possibility of adjusting for additional inquiry was appealing to this researcher as it was not clear at the outset how the students would respond. A qualitative approach offered this researcher the ability to process data immediately and alter the course of inquiry if necessary to better inform the investigation.
In addition to the eight reasons discussed, Creswell (1998) provides a clear definition of qualitative research that encapsulates much of the discourse found within the literature. According to Creswell:
Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting. (p. 15)
When considering the reasons and definition provided by Creswell (1998), the supporting information gleaned from experts in the field, and the pertinent components of the present study, a strong rationale exists for selecting a qualitative approach to inquiry. The qualitative research paradigm, including the methods and techniques indicative of the qualitative approach to investigation, has been selected as the most suitable for collecting and analyzing data that will best inform the purpose of the study.
Case Study Method of Research Design
Available to investigators are differing research strategies such as archival analysis, biographies, histories, experiments, and case studies, all of which prescribe a distinctive logic and means for collecting and analyzing empirical evidence. The case study method, the research strategy selected for the present investigation, is a comprehensive strategy that addresses the logic of the research design, data collection procedures, and specific approaches to data analysis (Yin, 2003). This section identifies characteristics of the case study method and presents qualities of the method that provide this researcher with a logical design sequence that facilitates the connection of data to the research questions posed.
Several authors have provided the field with definitions and characteristics of the case study method. Identifying the appropriateness of case study research in the educational arena and its prevalence in this field for the past 30 years, Merriam (1998) asserts that the decision to utilize qualitative case study research rests within the reason for the inquiry and is dependent upon what the researcher wants to know. A case study research design is selected when the researcher is interested in gaining insight, discovery, and interpretation of a single phenomenon with the intent of exposing the interaction of significant features of the phenomenon. Merriam identifies the three special features of being particularistic, descriptive, and heuristic to further define the case study method and illustrate its benefits for particular forms of inquiry. The focus on a particular situation, event, program, or phenomenon gives the case study a particularistic nature that is especially productive when designing studies that address practical questions found in everyday practice. The thick description of the phenomenon studied presented in the end product provides the case study with a descriptive feature that allows the benefits of hindsight, the influences of personalities, as well as the presentation of information in a literary manner. Finally, the illumination of the reader’s understanding of the phenomena studied, or the heuristic feature, permits discovery of new meaning, a discussion around what happened and why, and evaluation which can lead to increased applicability.
Opie (2004) provides the field with a simplistic and applicable description of a case study viewed as a comprehensive investigation of interactions of a single instance within an enclosed system. Opie states:
As with all research the important thing about a case study is that it is methodically prepared and the collection of evidence is systematically undertaken. Crucially the focus of a case study is on a real situation, with real people in an environment often familiar to the researcher. Its aim then is to provide a picture of a certain feature of social behavior or activity in a particular setting and the factors influencing this situation. In this way the interactions of events, human relationships and other factors are studied in a unique location. (p. 74)
Yin (2003) identifies the case study as one of several ways of conducting social science research that has the unique quality of permitting the investigator to maintain the holistic and meaningful distinctiveness of real-life events. The case study is an empirical inquiry that is beneficial when the researcher wishes to deliberately address contextual conditions that are deemed pertinent to the area of study, and when there exists no clear boundaries between the phenomena and context. The case study inquiry manages technically difficult situations where there are several variables of interest and builds upon existing theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. Additionally according to Yin (2003), the reliance on multiple sources of evidence is prevalent in case studies and often comes from documents, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant observation, and physical artifacts.
Acknowledging the lack of a developed comprehensive catalogue of research designs for case studies, Yin (2003) provides the field with five essential components of a case study research design. Similar to the first consideration for researchers when creating a rationale for selecting a qualitative approach previously presented by Creswell (1998), Yin identifies an important facet of case study design as the appropriateness of the method for addressing “how” and “why” research questions. “How” and “why” questions, “deal with operational links needing to be traced over time, rather than mere frequencies or incidents” (Yin, 2003, p. 6) and are generally exploratory in nature, making case study methods of design a preferred strategy.
The second component of a case study research design presented by Yin (2003) is the proposition included within the study that begins to inform the researcher as to where to look for relevant evidence. While the “how” and “why” questions may point the researcher to the case study method of research design as a means of finding answers, the questions do not have the ability to direct the researcher to the “what” that should be studied. Yin continues by asserting that each proposition contained within the study directs the researcher’s attention to something that needs to be examined. The author argues that the only way to move the study in the right direction is for the researcher to openly state the propositions contained within the scope of their study.
The unit of analysis or “case” is the third important component of a case study research design presented by Yin (2003) and is intertwined with the propositions contained within the study. Propositions are necessary as they provide the “case” to be studied with boundaries that make the study feasible by identifying relevant information and eliminating the temptation to address unrelated issues. Yin prescribes the general guide for identifying the unit of analysis for a study by relating it to the way the researcher has defined and structured their initial research questions. When primary research questions are accurately specified they will lead to a favoring of one unit of analysis over another, and will direct the researcher to the appropriate “case” of study.
It is apparent that the “case” is a significant component of case study research design as others within the field pay the issue particular attention. Merriam (1998) concludes that the delimitation of the object of the study, or the case, is the single most defining characteristic of case study research. The author emphasizes the necessity of a bounded system and asserts that the existence of a case is dependent upon the phenomenon studied being intrinsically bounded. Stake (1995) asserts that the first obligation of the researcher is to understand the one case being studied, not to study the case to understand other cases. The specific case according to Stake is selected to maximize understanding about what is needed to learn. Opie (2004) argues that the issue of numbers of participants in a case study is meaningless due to the method’s “in-depth study of interactions of a single instance in an enclosed system” (Opie, 2004, p. 74). The case could consist of an entire school, a department within a school, a class of students, or a single person.
According to Yin (2003) components four and five of case study research design are the least well developed. Working together as a way of foreshadowing the steps for data analysis, the final two components of linking data to propositions and criteria for interpreting findings, are incorporated into the research design to establish a base for data analysis. Yin contends that linking data to propositions can be achieved in several ways including pattern matching, explanation building, logic models, time-series analysis, and cross-case analysis. Additionally Yin points out the difficulties encountered when researchers attempts to establish criteria for interpreting findings as there is often no set way of interpreting findings from case study research. Stake (1995) sheds some light on case study interpretation when identifying some defining characteristics of qualitative studies. According to Stake, a qualitative study is interpretive in that:
Its researchers rely more on intuition, with many important criteria not specified;
Its on-site observers work to keep attention free to recognize problem-relevant events; and
It is attuned to the fact that research is a researcher-subject interaction. (Stake, 1995, p 47)
The components presented by Yin (2003) act as a frame for the case study research design presented in the following section.
Research Design
This section contains the format utilized to provide this researcher with a vehicle for designing the study and a roadmap for maintaining the focus on the purpose of the inquiry. It is intended to guide the investigation and provide the reader with a framework of inquiry for conducting the study by incorporating the logic and data collection procedures of case study research designs. Case study research affords the researcher the flexibility of selecting from several strategies for obtaining data and evidence. The relational interactive nature of this study as well as the need to identify academic performance levels calls for a combination of strategies from both qualitative and quantitative traditions. This interplay of both qualitative and quantitative techniques will be used to build an in-depth portrait of the case. Quantitative methods will be incorporated in the form of archived records and survey data elicited from a questionnaire, however data gleaned from interviews which are traditionally associated with qualitative methods will be emphasized. The quantitative methods and quantifiable data presented will be viewed as a means of stabilizing the foundation of the stories told, not conveying their message. Evident in the following research design are connections to the recommendations presented by Creswell (1998) and the components presented by Yin (2003) in the preceding section of this chapter. The research design includes the setting, the unit of analysis or “case,” and data collection procedures.
Setting
To retain the confidentiality of the school, this researcher has selected to use the reference “Setting High School (SHS)” throughout the study.
One of three high schools in a twin-city, two school district community with a combined population of just over 100,000 residents, Setting High School serves students in grades 9-12 and enrolls approximately 1350 students per year. The area is considered a “University Town” as a large university with over 36,000 students rests between the two cities, influencing the diverse nature of the schools in the areas of academics, culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Major sources of employment are education, health care, computer technology, agriculture, manufacturing, and service fields. The racial/ethnic background of Setting High School during the 2004-2005 school year was 59.2% white, 29.1% African American, 2.6% Hispanic, 6.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2.6% Multiracial/Ethnic, and 0.4% Native American. Thirty-six and one-half percent of SHS students were identified as low income, 1.8% of the students were identified as limited English proficient, and 18% received special education services. The dropout rate for SHS was 2.4%, the chronic truancy rate was 14.9%, and the mobility rate was 23.1%. The class size for the class of 2005 consisted of 280 students. The average ACT composite score for students reporting a core curriculum was 23.7 and the average composite ACT score for all students was 18.6. The percentage of 2005 graduates intending to attend a 4-year college was 45%, a 2-year college was 32%, and other schooling was 3%.
Setting High School consists of approximately 150 staff members containing a total of 89 certified teachers. Of the certified teachers, 82 are white, six are African American, and one is Hispanic. There is a white male principal, an African American female assistant principal, a white female assistant principal, and a white male assistant principal. Additionally, there is an African American female dean, a white female dean, and a white male dean who are primarily responsible for student discipline.
Setting High School runs on a traditional school calendar which is divided into four nine-week quarters with an optional six-week summer session. Each semester, students may take six or seven 50-minute classes that are consistent with the academic curriculum provided in most comprehensive high schools. Remedial, College Preparatory, and Advanced Placement courses are available with most students enrolling in college preparation courses. The school has a traditional departmental structure, however during the past two years efforts have been made to move to interdisciplinary divisions. As an innovative principal came on board four years ago, both the administrative staff and leadership team is relatively new. School improvement initiatives have been research-based and are consistent with relevant change literature and best practices.
Unit of Analysis or “Case”
The individuals selected to participate in this study, those whom comprise the “case,” are the 267 low-income African American and white students who attended Setting High School for a minimum of one year and were enrolled in the school on May 12, 2005. The designation of low-income was determined by the student’s qualification for free and reduced lunch according to the procedures and regulations developed by the State. The designation of race was determined by the race selected by the student or the student’s guardian at the time of registration at Setting High School. Students identified by the school district as having mental impairments and students enrolled in the school who attend alternative settings are not included in the study. The purpose of the study is to explore African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and the impact these perceptions have on their academic achievement. The necessity of the participation of both African American and white students is apparent when considering the propositions implied in the statement of purpose and the research questions posed. The implicit proposition is that teacher care may have the potential for impacting the academic achievement of African American students, and as the literature review has suggested, may play a different role in their achievement than of white students.
At the most simplistic level, the necessary inclusion of both white and African American students is found in guiding research question number two—“Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?” In order to determine how the perceptions of teacher care are specific to African American students, there needs to be a way to establish that the specifics of these perceptions are not indicative of all students at the school setting. By including both white and African American students in the research design, this researcher has created the opportunity to explore perceptions specific to the African American students. While a comparison between the two groups is by no means the focus of the study, the inclusion of the white and African American students affords this researcher the opportunity to discover a contrast among the groups, making it possible for the researcher to identify the existence of perceptions of teacher care that are specific to African American students. Additionally, by creating the possibility of answering research question number two as well as the other research questions, there becomes the possibility of addressing the implicit proposition found within the study’s statement of purpose.
The additional condition of low-income functions as a means of controlling for the impact of poverty on the academic achievement of the students. By not addressing the issue of poverty there is an inherent proposition within this study that specific perceptions of teacher care will exist irrespective of students’ socioeconomic status, and that these perceptions may influence their academic achievement. More specifically, there may be cultural specific perceptions of teacher care rather than socioeconomic specific perceptions of teacher care that influence the academic achievement of the students. Therefore the unit of analysis and design needs to provide a means for negating the factor of poverty on this particular population. This is accomplished by including only low-income African American and white students as this will afford the researcher the possibility of exploring the influence of perceptions of teacher care on academic achievement, not the influence of socioeconomic status.
Another condition of the case is that the students must have attended Setting Highs School for more than one year. This was included as a way of ensuring that the students report on their perception of teacher care at this setting and not at a previous setting. In addition, it is believed that these students would best inform the study during the interview phase of data collection as they would have had numerous teachers and a multitude of interactions over the course of a year. Students with mental impairments and those who were enrolled in the school but who attended alternative settings were not included as it was determined they would not be able to inform the purpose of the study.
Data Collection Procedures
In this study, the data collection process incorporated the following distinct steps:
1. A pilot interview was conducted with one student from Setting High School. Information gleaned from the pilot interview was used to inform the creation of the interview protocol. Any information received from the student participating in the pilot interview was not included in the study.
2. All of the low-income students who attended Setting High School for a minimum of one year and were enrolled on May 12, 2005 were identified. Students identified as having mental impairments by the school district and students enrolled in the school who attend alternative settings were not included in the study. This was done by using the SKYWARD student data management system operating at Setting High School.
3. Questionnaires constructed to solicit perceptions of teacher care at Setting High School were mailed to all of the identified students. The questionnaire asked each student if they were willing to be interviewed at a later date.
4. The grade point averages for each student who responded to the questionnaire were obtained via SKYWARD and were noted on the returned questionnaire.
5. The questionnaires were scored and sorted by students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care.
6. The questionnaires were again sorted by low achieving students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care, average achieving students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care, and high achieving students who have a low, medium or high perception of teacher care. The groups were identified as follows:
Group A—Low achievement, low care
Group B—Low achievement, medium care
Group C—Low achievement, high care
Group D—Average achievement, low care
Group E—Average achievement, medium care
Group F—Average achievement, high care
Group G—High achievement, low care
Group H—High achievement, medium care
Group I—High achievement, high care
7. From the sorted questionnaires, students who agreed to be interviewed were flagged for possible contact for interviews.
8. A descriptive statistic chart was created to better enable the researcher to select students to be interviewed. The identity of each student who agreed to be interviewed was revealed to the researcher via the research assistant. The researcher used an additional purposive sampling strategy to identify students who would best inform the researcher regarding the focus of the investigation.
9. Once the sorting process was completed, twelve students were contacted for interviews. Interviews were conducted with the identified students.
The scoring and sorting process, the descriptive statistic chart, and the purposive sampling strategy used to identify students to be interviewed and presented as portraits is described in detail in Chapter Four of this publication.
Instruments
The means and instruments for data collection was the review of archived records, a questionnaire, and interviews. As the SKYWARD student management system utilized by Setting High School provided all of the archived records relevant to this study, this section will focus on the questionnaire and interview procedures.
Questionnaire
Due to their relatively economical nature, standardization, anonymity, and specificity, questionnaires are often used for obtaining data (Opie, 2004). They can gather large amounts of data from many individuals and are usually targeted at the specific variables of questions of knowledge, predictions of behavior, expressions of opinion or interest, and demonstrations of capability (Krathwohl, 1998). For these reasons, this researcher developed a scale (see Appendix A) for this study to solicit the perceptions of teacher care from low-income students at Setting High School. The scale is a 16-item questionnaire that asks students to respond to each item and provides them with Likert style response opportunities. Items on the scale were developed from a synthesis of research-based concepts of teacher caring. The purpose of the questionnaire was to assist in the identification of students who would best inform the investigation and identify students who were willing to be interviewed.
Interviews
Possibly the most common form of data collection in qualitative studies in education (Merriam, 1998), interviews provide the researcher with a means for investigating the meaning of the individual’s experiences within the context of the identified phenomenon. Most case study interviews are of an open-ended nature in order to solicit information that delves deeper into the opinions and perceptions of those being interviewed. Kvale (1996) identifies the semistructured life world interview as, “an interview whose purpose is to obtain descriptions of the life world of the interviewee with respect to interpreting the meaning of the described phenomena” (p. 5-6). As a professional interview, the qualitative research interview involves a specific approach and technique for understanding, yet can resemble an everyday conversation. Kvale continues, “Technically, the qualitative research interview is semistructured: It is conducted according to an interview guide that focuses on certain themes and that may include suggested questions” (p. 27).
For the purposes of this study, a semistructured or open-ended interviewing approach was utilized. Initially the interview solicited the individual student’s perception regarding their own academic achievement as way of providing direction for the interviewee as well as setting the tone of the communication. The student was introduced to a stream of concepts in hopes that they would discuss what was most important to them as it related to their achievement (see Appendix B). If the student identified teacher care as a factor among many that they believed influences their academic achievement, then probing questions ensued. However if the student did not identify teacher care, they were permitted to continue to communicate their opinion about their achievement. The questionnaire was then utilized to probe the student in the areas of teacher care. Dependent upon the information already provided, the researcher may have asked the student to elaborate on one or several responses they gave to a particular item on the questionnaire. The interview protocol contained questions and statements that would start the stream of thought for the students, enabled the researcher to log information learned during the interviews, and provided for continuity and ease of administration. All interviews were tape-recorded and later transcribed to facilitate data analysis.
A categorical aggregation method was utilized for identifying emergent themes which began with the reading and re-reading of the transcribed interviews. Initially, each interview transcription was read two times in order to provide the researcher with a mental “feel” of the stories being shared in hopes that issue-relevant meanings would emerge. During the third reading of each transcript, notes and comments were written in the margins and in some cases words or phrases were circled within the text. Repetitive refrains and concepts contained in individual transcripts were written on a note card and attached to the front of each transcript. The note cards also contained the corresponding page number for each written notation (see Appendix C).
Once all of the transcripts had individual note cards attached, patterns were established based on the words and phrases contained on the note cards. The data was aggregated into 22 categories and each category was written on a sheet of paper. The note cards were then checked to see if the category was represented. If the category was represented, the identification number of the student was written under the category (see Appendix D). Based on frequency and similarities, the original 22 categories were collapsed into nine categories and written on a piece of paper (see Appendix E). At this point, each transcript was re-read with the intention of substantiating the nine categories identified. If one of the categories was indicated by the words and refrains contained in an individual transcript, the name of the student and the page number of the transcript was written under the appropriate category. Upon completion of this process, the original nine categories were collapsed into four themes based on how often each category was found in the individual transcripts.
Protection of Human Subjects
The protection of human subjects is a critical issue when surveying and interviewing students. This is especially salient given the relationship of this researcher to the student participants. As was presented in Chapter One of this study, this researcher is in a role of authority at Setting High School and therefore extra precautions were taken to ensure the protection of the participants. This researcher complied with all requirements identified for research involving human subjects by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of Illinois which entails providing IRB with a method for addressing any possible issues having to do with conflicts of interest. Additional precautions were as follows:
1. Anonymity of the students was maintained as long as possible into the research design. The identity of students was not revealed to the researcher until absolutely necessary for selecting students to be interviewed.
2. Along with the requirements dictated by IRB for informed consent, an additional notation was added that addresses the relationship between the researcher and student once the identity of the student had been revealed to the researcher. Specifically, a statement was included that automatically designated another administrator if an issue arises that posed a possible conflict of interest. This might include but is not limited to an appeal on a disciplinary decision or an appeal on grades.
3. Also identified in the informed consent form was a specific statement notifying the student and their family that this study had no affiliation with Setting High School and that this researcher was acting independently of the school district. Emphasis was placed on this issue as many students would naturally associate this researcher with the institution and might feel obligated to participate.
4. Prior to the interviews, an additional letter of understanding was signed by both the researcher and the student that addressed the issue of informant confidentiality. Not only was this necessary to protect each student, it was also necessary to build the trust and rapport necessary for successful interviews.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to explore African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and the impact these perceptions have on their academic achievement at Setting High School. A qualitative case study research design that incorporates features of case study was selected to achieve this goal. The case, or bounded system, is comprised of all the low-income students who attended Setting High School for a minimum of one year and were enrolled on May 12, 2005. Instruments for data collection were the review of archived records provided by the student data management system utilized at Setting High School, a mailed questionnaire, and interviews. Special attention was paid to the protection of human subjects as this researcher is in a position of authority over these students.
CHAPTER FOUR
CRITERIA AND PROCESS FOR DETERMINING INTERVIEW CANDIDATES
Introduction
Somewhat of an extension of the methodology presented in Chapter Three, the purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with the criteria and process utilized for determining the students selected for interviews. Included in this chapter is the scoring and sorting process for the questionnaire and the purposive sampling strategy used to identify students to be interviewed and presented as portraits. As stated at the onset of this inquiry, the primary purpose of the questionnaire is to identify students to be interviewed who would best inform the investigation. This chapter elaborates upon the function of the questionnaire and presents the compiled data utilized to solicit perceptions of teacher caring at Setting High School. The final section provides further elaboration of the data collection procedures utilized to determine the candidates for student interviews and includes a descriptive statistic chart for clarification.
All of the 267 low-income students who attended Setting High School for a minimum of one year and who were enrolled on May 12, 2005 were mailed a questionnaire. Students identified as having mental impairments by the school district and students enrolled in the school who attended alternative settings were not included in the mailing. Fifty-two completed questionnaires were returned out of the 267 that were mailed, and four questionnaire packets were returned by the Post Office due to their inability to deliver. Two of the 52 completed questionnaires were determined to be invalid by the researcher. This determination was based on research assistant error for one of the returned questionnaires and because the student who completed the other questionnaire informed the researcher that it was his mother who answered the questions. Of the 50 remaining students who completed and returned the questionnaire, 42 agreed to be interviewed.
Participant Demographics
Participant demographics were made possible by the research design and the archived student records obtained via the SKYWARD student management system utilized by Setting High School. Of the 50 student participants who returned the completed survey, 21 (42%) were white, 22 (44%) African American, 1 (2%) Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 (2%) Hispanic, 4 (8%) Multiracial, and 1(2%) American Indian/Alaskan. Forty percent of the participants were male and 60% were female. There were 19 (38%) sophomores, 14 (28%) juniors, 9 (18%) seniors, and 8 (16%) who graduated in May of 2005. In terms of special education services, 1% of the students were identified as having a specific learning disability and less than 1% was identified as either emotionally disturbed or speech and language impaired.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was divided into three sections and contained a total of 16 items that asked students to respond by providing them with Likert style response opportunities (see Appendix A). Items on the scale were developed from a synthesis of research-based concepts of teacher caring as well as from themes evident in the reform literature on the comprehensive high school. Questions 1-6 were formulated in the positive in that the actual Likert score identified by the student counted towards the final score. Questions 7-12 were formulated in the negative causing the need for an inverse calculation of the actual Likert score identified by the student. Meaning, if the students marked a four for question number 7, a two was counted towards the final score (see Appendix E for scoring template). A line separated the positive and negatively worded questions as a means of signaling to the students that there was a shift in prompt style. The returned questionnaires indicated that the students were able to recognize the shift in question style. Questions 13-16 were also inversely scored however a line was included as well to signal to the students the inclusion of a differing prompt.
Questions 1, 3, 7, 10, 11, and 12 of the questionnaire specifically served to address the component of teacher care relative to the student as an individual or person. The emphasis is placed on how the students’ perceive their teachers to care about them not as students, but as human beings who share interactions and experiences. Questions 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 of the questionnaire functioned to address components of teacher care that are specific to the individual as a student in the school. The emphasis is placed on how the students’ perceive their teachers to care about them as students and learners. Questions 13-16 functioned to solicit the students’ perceptions of belonging and connectedness to Setting High School.
Determining Perceptions of Teacher Care and Achievement
The score used to determine an individual student’s perception of teacher care was from the total score of questions 1-12. The lowest possible score a student could receive from questions 1-12 was a 12 and the highest possible score a student could receive was a 60. Percentile scores were utilized to differentiate between a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care. A percentile score of 33% and below indicated that the student had a low perception of teacher care. A percentile score of 34% through 66% indicated that the student had a medium perception of teacher care. A high perception of teacher care was indicated if the percentile score was 67% and above. Seventeen students received a percentile score of 33% and below and were identified as having a low perception of teacher care. Eighteen students received a percentile score between 34% and 66%, identifying them as having a medium perception of teacher care. Fifteen students received a percentile score of 66% and above, indicating that they had a high perception of teacher care. The mean score for questions 1-12 was 45.
Setting High School utilizes a 6.0 weighted grade scale to determine student grade point averages. The average cumulative grade point for all freshman students at the end of the first semester of the 2005-2006 school year was 3.281, the average for sophomores was 3.562, the average for juniors was 3.851, and the average for seniors was 4.097. The administrative team believes that the decrease in cumulative grade point averages for students entering Setting High School as freshman is due to the increase of academic rigor in core courses and their efforts to curb grade inflation. The school has determined that a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 and above entitles students to participate in the academic monogram program. Grade point averages were used to differentiate between low, average, and high achieving students. For the purpose of this study, a cumulative grade point average of 2.999 and below designates a student as low achieving. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 to 3.999 identifies a student as average achieving. A high achieving student is identified as one who has a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 and above. Of the 50 students who participated in this study, 12 were identified as low achieving, 22 as average achieving, and 16 as high achieving.
Of the 22 African American students participating in the study, 23% had a low perception of teacher care, 32% had a medium perception of teacher care, and 45% had a high perception of teacher care. Although only four multiracial students participated in the study, their perceptions of teacher care were similar to those of African American students. Of the four multiracial students, 25% had a low perception of teacher care, 25 % had medium perception of teacher care, and 50% had a high perception of teacher care. Out of the 21 white students, 43% had a low perception of teacher care, 43% had a medium perception of teacher care, and 14% had a high perception of teacher care. There was one Asian/Pacific Islander who had a low perception of teacher care, one Hispanic student who had a medium perception of teacher care, and one American Indian student who had a low perception of teacher care. Fourteen of the 16 students who had a high perception of teacher care were females and 2 were males. Ten of the 22 students who had a medium perception of teacher care were females and 12 were males. Six of the 12 students who had a low perception of teacher care were females and six were males.
Questions 13-16 were global in nature and were designed to solicit students’ overall feelings of a sense of belonging and connectedness to Setting High School (see Appendix A). The lowest possible score a student could receive on questions 13-16 was 4 and the highest possible score a student could receive was 20. Higher scores indicated that the student has a strong sense of overall belonging and connectedness to the school. Lower scores indicated that the student had a weak sense of belonging and connectedness to the school. Of the 50 students who completed questions 13-16, 62% obtained a score in the top third, 34% obtained a score in the middle third, and 4% obtained a score in the lower third. Of the students who obtained a score in the top third, 11 were white, 16 were African American, 2 were multiracial, one was Asian Pacific Islander, and 1 was Hispanic. Of the students who obtained a score in the middle third, 9 were white, 6 were African American, and 2 were multiracial. One American Indian student and one white student obtained a score in the lower third. The mean score for questions 13-16 was 14.8.
Determining Candidates for Interviews
In order to best determine students as interview candidates, the results of the questionnaire were sorted by low achieving students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care, average achieving students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care, and high achieving students who have a low, medium, or high perception of teacher care. Once sorted, the students were then identified by race and gender. A descriptive statistic chart was created to better enable the researcher to select students to be interviewed based on the probable contribution they could make to the study (see Figure 1). The researcher asked the research assistant to reveal the identity of the students willing to be contacted for interviews. From the students who agreed to be interviewed, it was hoped that a student from each section of the chart would be available to be interviewed. Efforts were made to identify both white and African American students as well as both male and female students. One student was identified to the researcher who was not considered to be an interview candidate due to the researcher’s knowledge of emotional concerns that may have impacted the study. Three students were eliminated from being possible interview candidates due to the researcher’s knowledge
| |High | |G | |
|Achiev|Averag| |D | |
|ement |e | | | |
| |Low | |A | |
| | |Low |Medium |High |
| | | | | |
| | | |Care | |
Figure 1. Achievement and care. The bold font indicates students who were interviewed and the underline indicates students for whom portraits were created.
that they were either away at college or moved out of the school district. Seventeen students were contacted for possible interviews and provided with one student assent form, one parent consent form and a letter of understanding (see Appendices F-G) to be signed by themselves and their parent and returned to the researcher prior to an interview. Of the 17 who received the consent forms, 12 returned them to the researcher and were interviewed. Due to the researcher’s position as assistant principal, 4 of the 12 students were known to the researcher. Eight of the students interviewed were not known to the researcher prior to the interview. It was not possible to interview a student from section F due to their lack of availability for an interview or their desire not to be interviewed.
Students were selected for portraiture based on the information they provided during their interview and on their identification as a low, medium, or high achieving African American student. Five of the 12 students interviewed, all of them African American, spent a significant amount of time elaborating on their thoughts and provided specific examples relevant to the purpose of the study during their interviews. One of the five students was not selected for portraiture due to redundancy in her contribution. This researcher acknowledges that three of the four students selected for portraiture were known to her which could explain why they were seemingly so comfortable expressing themselves during the interviews.
CHAPTER FIVE
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS
Introduction
This chapter will present data compiled from one-on-one interviews with student participants. Essentialist portraiture is identified as the methodology referenced to supply a canvas on which to paint the stories of four highlighted students. A process that guided the identification of emergent themes is included. Presented are individual portraits of four students and a brief description of the remaining eight students interviewed. A cross-case analysis of the themes that emerged from all of the 12 students interviewed is provided. The central question of the study is, “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School concerning teacher care and could these perceptions affect their academic achievement?” The research questions that guide the study are:
1. What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School?
2. Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
3. Are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
As presented in Chapter Four, a questionnaire soliciting students’ perceptions of teacher care was utilized to identify students to be interviewed who would best inform this study. Of the 50 students who submitted a completed questionnaire, 42 agreed to be interviewed. Purposive sampling was used to identify interview candidates based on factors that included, but were not limited, to the students’ responses to specific questions on the questionnaire, their race, their academic achievement, their perception of teacher care, and the researcher’s familiarity with the student. Efforts were made to interview students who were representative of the total group of 50 and whose achievement and perceptions of teacher care were varied. The descriptive statistic chart presented in Chapter Three was instrumental when selecting interview candidates. Two African American males, five African American females, two white males, and three white females were interviewed and provided data for the investigation.
Essentialist Portraiture
The interviews and portrait presentations are loosely based on the tenets of essentialist portraiture. Presented as a methodology designed to study an individual’s deeper motivations and experiences, essentialist portraiture aims to understand the essence of the person and experience, “with empathy and sympathy as part of the larger unity of the person whom this experience forms a part, and to communicate this understanding in carefully constructed portraits” (Witz, 2006, p. 246). The researcher and subject participate in a conversation where the subject is an ally or friend, with the researcher sharing with them the importance of the study as it relates to the larger social or moral picture (Witz, 2006). During the conversation the researcher strives to grasp the subjective experience of the interviewee including their feelings and attitudes, and attempts to avoid stereotypic categories (Witz, 2006). Ideally, the participant is a co-contemplator who works collaboratively with the researcher as they search for greater meaning of a given phenomenon.
Unlike other open-ended interview methodologies, the present methodology places an “extreme emphasis on identifying and exploring forces or structuring that actually exist in the participant’s subjective experience, consciousness, and state” (Witz, 2006, p. 249). This aim is labor intensive with the process originating when the researcher first transcribes the interviews from tape. The researcher strives to achieve a heightened awareness of the intricacies of properties such as voice, attitude, and feeling as conveyed by the subject during the interview. Changes of thought, emphasis, timing, and intensity are highly relevant and are noted when the researcher reviews the tapes time and time again. It is imperative that the researcher be alerted to the subtleties of changes in mood, expression, and flavor, making the written transcript alone insufficient. From the abundant impressions formed during the process, “one eventually reaches a subjective as well as objective understanding of core aspects of the case” (Witz, 2006, p. 250).
In harmony with the purpose of the interview methodology is the subsequent presentation of the information in the form of a written portrait. Much like a painting, a written portrait functions to provide the reader with a deeper grasp of the universal nuances of the phenomenon of study and the “essence” of the human subject exhibited. The “essence” of a person as presented by Witz (2006), or the essences that an individual is feeling; and that individual’s “self,” to a certain degree, can be experienced by others. Analogous to a learned art enthusiast who perceives the greater meaning of an influential piece, Witz comments:
In a similar manner, in the case of a ‘verbal’ (written) portrait, a reader will see the insight into the participant and the phenomenon under study, make his or her own judgment regarding its validity against the data provided, and understand what larger message it has regarding the phenomenon under study. (Witz, 2006, p. 258)
Evaluation of the written portrait, much like a piece of art, can be obtained by subjecting the work to communities of professionals in the field able to judge the quality of the portraits. Also like evaluating the merits of a piece of art, a means of ensuring quality and validation is to subject written portraits to critique by the individuals represented in addition to people who know them well. According to Witz (2006), “In verbal portraits, a similar [to art] evaluation of quality and validation can take place when participants portrayed recognize themselves in the portraits and acknowledge the insight into themselves that they find expressed” (p. 258).
Decision Rules for Transcribing Interviews
The decision rules for transcribing the interviews were aimed at maintaining the aforementioned fundamental aspects of essentialist portraiture. Upon reviewing the tapes several times, the researcher became aware of the curious expressions and actions conveyed by the students and hence decided to quote their interviews verbatim. As previously mentioned, however, the portrait presentations are only loosely based on the tenets of essentialist portraiture and therefore some liberties were taken to make some of the sentences more fluid. Commas indicate brief pauses in verbal flow and a series of four dots indicates a very brief verbal break, possibly an interjection by the interviewer. At times phrases are contained within brackets to demonstrate the intent of the student. For example, several students pretended as if they were either talking to a teacher or acting as if they were a teacher. This is indicated by such words as [acts as teacher] being placed immediately prior to the statement. Brackets are also used to indicate words that are inserted in order to provide the reader with clarification or to signify moments that are spoken with a particular nuance or emphasis. It is recommended by the researcher that the reader lose themselves in the verbal flow as much as possible to fully appreciate the stories presented by the students. Copies of all transcripts are available to the reader by contacting the researcher (see Appendix J).
Construction of Themes
The work of Lawrence-Lightfoot and Hoffman-Davis (1997) guided the approach to identifying emergent themes from the portraits and additional student interviews. Identifying the researcher as a portraitist, Lawrence-Lightfoot and Hoffman-Davis present a process of data analysis that utilizes five modes of contrast, synthesis, and convergence. The authors present the modes for drawing out and constructing emergent themes as:
1. First, we listen for repetitive refrains that are spoken (or appear) frequently and persistently, forming a collective expression of commonly held views.
2. Second, we listen for resonant metaphors, poetic and symbolic expressions that reveal the ways actors illuminate and experience their realities.
3. Third, we listen for the themes expressed through cultural and institutional rituals that seem to be important to organizational continuity and coherence.
4. Fourth, we use triangulation to weave together the threads of data converging from a variety of sources.
5. And finally, we construct themes and reveal patterns among perspectives that are often experienced as contrasting and dissonant by the actors. (1997, p. 193)
This iterative and generative process is one of the portraitist striving to bring interpretive insight, analytic scrutiny, and aesthetic order to the data collected (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Hoffman-Davis, 1997). The data is provided with shape and form, a silhouette, from the illuminated themes.
Portraits
Of the 12 students interviewed, four African American students were selected to be presented as highlighted portraits. “Lindsey,” “Nick,” “Jillian,” and “Billy” were asked to read their own portraits and to let the researcher know if they had any concerns about how they were going to be represented in the study. As a means of expanding this form of member checking, the four students were asked if they concurred with the researcher’s interpretation of their interviews and subsequent presentation of them as individuals, and whether or not they wished to add or delete any information. Lindsey, Jillian, and Billy all conveyed that they were amazed at how accurately they were represented. Nick agreed with his representation as well; however he questioned the researcher about the need for the last line of his portrait. The researcher agreed that the last sentence was repetitive and removed it from the final copy of Nick’s portrait.
Lindsey
Lindsey is a 17-year-old African American female in her senior year at Setting High School. She is a low achieving student who had a 2.441 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Throughout her years at the school, Lindsey has been enrolled in both college preparatory and Advanced Placement preparatory classes in addition to concert orchestra and choir. Lindsey has failed a significant amount of courses over the years but has been able to keep up with her graduating class by taking courses after school and during the summer. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Lindsey is classified as a student who has a medium perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Lindsey’s Allure
The administrative team quickly came to know Lindsey four years ago when she first became a student at Setting High School. Continuing a natural flow of the noticeable aura she established while attending middle school, she immediately made herself known to many in the high school via her strong personality and social nature. “I am pretty social,” she remarks within the first 20 seconds of the first interview. During the second interview she adds in a positive light, “I [can’t] not get attention.” Mature for her age and capable of relating well to adults, Lindsey is a common fixture in the administrative and counseling office suite. She spends much of her free time at school in the company of adults and is one of a few student representatives on a district level committee. Lindsey exudes confidence and often solicits conversations with adults about challenging and thought provoking issues. She is an insightful, intelligent and beautiful, outgoing young woman who is well known and liked by many faculty members and students.
The fact that she is well-liked by many adults is not lost on Lindsey or on others in the building. Lindsey receives many hugs in the hallways, individual attention from several faculty members, and encouragement from many who support her academic endeavors. Admittedly recognizable and unforgettable, Lindsey professes that many teachers show they care about her more than other students because of her outgoing personality and social nature.
I think a lot of the teachers that I’ve had care about me, like I wouldn’t say that they care about all of the kids as much as me but like, you can’t miss me. I’m not quiet, if I’m there, you know I’m there. And do yeah, I think that if you’re more outspoken and have more character you get more attention and like teachers care more because they know you better than like kids who are kind of quiet and don’t really say anything and like whatever, cause if you have like a really energetic teacher and you have like some quiet kid [that’s] in the corner and [just] sit[s] over there and [is] quiet, [does] his homework and whatever, they [teachers] interact more with people who are more like them, and then they care more.
(1 p. 12)
Lindsey is one of few students to receive Christmas or birthday presents from faculty in the building, having her name on gifts in many offices and classrooms. She reciprocates with gifts to faculty as well. This year she gave sweaters to two of her teachers for Christmas and other faculty members small gifts for various reasons. It is not uncommon if you are a faculty member at Setting High School to receive an electronic greeting card via email or a small token of her appreciation on your desk.
Success in School
Lindsey has had sporadic success in school, which could be explained by the keen understanding she has of herself as a student and what she expects from her education. Early on in the first interview, Lindsey makes clear her position.
I’m not doing as well as I’d like to do, but I don’t think there is any particular reason why I don’t do what I am supposed to do. . . . It’s boring, homework is not fun. I don’t know. I just blow it off. I guess not all the time. I don’t know. It just doesn’t get done. . . . If I’m really interested in it or like if I feel it’s really important I will do it. But if it’s just like something stupid that [pause] I think it’s pointless I don’t. . . . I mean if I don’t think I am going to get anything out of it like, I am probably not going to do it. (1 pp. 1-2)
Lindsey has determined what will be important for her in terms of her personal success as opposed to what others believe to be important for her in the school setting, and she has committed to this principle throughout her high school career. She has independently chosen when to apply herself to her studies and when not to, and while not thrilled with her low academic performance, has accepted it as a result of her personal choice.
Understanding of Others
In accordance with the acceptance of her personal actions and resulting consequences, is the similar understanding Lindsey has of the motives and subsequent actions of others. When discussing the actions of some of her teachers, Lindsey demonstrates the ability to search for a deeper understanding of human motivation. The actions of others are not often taken at face value as Lindsey moves through her environment with a sophisticated and receptive approach:
I just don’t think they like what they do, like I don’t see any other reason why, I wouldn’t say just oh they’re mean or something like that. Maybe they are just not happy with like what they do or how they have to do it. (1 p. 4)
Lindsey attributes the differences in the actions of teachers to the differences in people. According to her, there are people who act a certain way in general and if they happen to be teachers, they are going to act that same way to their students in all areas. Responding to a prompt that queried whether or not the teachers make sure that the students know and understand their schoolwork, Lindsey says with acceptance:
Yeah. And some don’t, and they just, they don’t. But the ones that don’t, are the same people who like, don’t talk to you about just anything. And I mean it’s the same people they are just overall different kind of people I guess. (1 p. 4)
Lindsey has a refreshingly honest take on her world that clearly frames her conclusions. She is sincere and truthful and puts little credence in actions of those who do not exhibit similar characteristics. When thinking about the inconsistent actions of some of her teachers, the value Lindsey places on being authentic is apparent.
I think that consistency is important. If you don’t care, don’t care every day and if you do, like make it all the time or else, maybe I don’t know. If it’s not all the time then I’m kind of like don’t ask me how I’m doing. You didn’t care yesterday and I felt the same way yesterday that I do today. Like, I don’t know. I just wouldn’t take them as seriously. I don’t take people that seriously who aren’t consistent. (1 p. 5)
Lindsey expands upon her thoughts later in the interview by suggesting that the there may be more of a negative impact for her when a teacher is inconsistent in their actions than if they initiated no actions at all. Lindsey says, “I think that [it] would help if the teacher was consistent, because it doesn’t help when they’re not” (1 p. 15).
A Unique Student
Lindsey considers another reason as to why she is very cared about by her teachers and has been able to develop strong relationships with adults in the building. She has determined that she is a somewhat unique African American student, sharing her opinion that there are not many African American students who look and act like her. Lindsey delineates between the two types of African American students at Setting High School. There are the ones that are “bad and don’t do what they are supposed to. I don’t want to say bad but just like misbehave that I think teachers are intimidated by” (1 p. 13) and other African American students who “come and they do their work and they want to be taken seriously” (1 p. 13). In response to my question, “How do you know they are intimidated by them?” Lindsey concedes, “Just the [slightly nervous giggle] I am [laughing loudly]” (1 p. 14) and conveys that as a student she can respond to the issue in a manner that is not afforded teachers.
I mean if I am walking down the hall and they [she acts as if addressing loud students] ‘dang calm down’ like I’m not scared to be like [again acts to loud students] ‘shut up’ but a teacher can’t really, I don’t know. I just think if I was the teacher I might be a little intimidated cause there’s only so much you can say and do as a teacher without like crossing the line and so kids, well a lot of those kids like don’t respond to [acting as teacher] ‘please be quiet’ or ‘I’m going to give you a detention or send you to your dean’ or whatever. If I knew there was nothing I could do to make somebody like not act crazy I’d be a little intimidated. (1 p. 14)
Lindsey additionally makes a distinction among African American and white students as she comments on teachers’ responsiveness in the forms of patience and attention. Identifying that there are times when teachers are patient with white students and not patient with African American students, Lindsey recognizes instances when teachers outwardly become irritated with African American students who are seeking explanation to increase their understanding.
Okay, if there’s white people that you’re [teacher] patient with and there’s black people that you get irritated with like when they have a question and when they don’t understand something, I’ve experienced like when I didn’t get it and the teacher’s like [acting out teacher] ‘God. Like why do you not get it?’ I’m just like ‘sorry, but hey, it’s really not on purpose but’ [she concludes] I can see how that would be viewed as racist. I would think that. I think that, [rethinks] maybe not racism, just having a preference of people. I think it’s more obvious to a kid than like it would be to the teacher. (2 p. 5)
Continuing to dabble with her perception of the role race plays within this context, Lindsey notes the existence of classroom favorites and a particular teacher’s responsiveness, or lack there of, to African American students in her class. “She [teacher] has favorites and I don’t know if she knows she has favorites or not, but it’s obvious she has favorites” (2 p. 4). True to her objective nature, Lindsey communicates the understanding that statistically this teacher’s favorites would most likely be white students as there were so few African American students in the class. “It’s like, mathematically it makes sense that like her favorites aren’t black because there’s like two black kids in her classes” (2 p. 4), she says as she describes how it seemed as if much of the attention given by this teacher was to a few white students in the class. In terms of this particular teacher, Lindsey and I both have knowledge of African American students questioning whether or not this teacher is racist due to how she treats students in her classes. Characteristically, Lindsey digs deeper and suggests that personal preference for a type of student, “Oh it was clearly picking favorites” (2 p. 4) is the cause of this treatment, not racism. However she does understand her peers’ perspectives “If you [teacher] give all your attention to like your favorite people and your favorite people are always white, I can see why somebody [might think] you were a racist. I can see sitting in that classroom why I would think that.” (2 p. 4). When I asked her if she had other teachers that have acted in a similar fashion, Lindsey thoughtfully responds:
Yeah, I think I have had good teachers who for the most part don’t do that but I think that I have had teachers that do do it, and I didn’t notice because I wasn’t the kid, because I couldn’t not get attention. I was like no, you help me [emphasis] now, and I didn’t get, like wasn’t the one who was blown off so maybe I didn’t see it. Looking back at the classroom as a whole, definitely, like I’d say that black kids get less attention in general, yeah. And there are exceptions to anything but.
(2 p. 5)
While Lindsey hesitates to hold her teachers accountable for their behavior towards different types of students “I think that it’s something that a teacher doesn’t even realize that they do” she strongly adds, “I think it’s bogus. . . and it sucks that it happens” (2 p. 4).
Lindsey’s Reflections and Interest in Study
Lindsey’s interviews were driven by her desire to share with me as much information as she could, to make sure that I truly understood her beliefs as they related to my study. Not satisfied with how she was able to articulate her perceptions after the first interview, she sought me out a few days later in a quest to continue our conversation. Lindsey wanted me to know more because she took interest in the issues and believed in the promise the study could have on the students in her school. Conveying that the topic was close to her heart, she placed value and importance on the study and was confident she had unique and illuminating insight to contribute. We agreed to a second interview so Lindsey could further explain her thoughts. Well after all of the interviews were completed, Lindsey continued to solicit conversations with me regarding the study and demonstrated an advanced depth of understanding and appreciation of the endeavor. This was important to Lindsey and it was not going to end just because I was done with the interview portion of my research.
Indicative of her reflective nature and the importance she placed on my study, Lindsey wrote a follow-up email which she sent to me prior to the second interview. Dissatisfied with what she believed to be her lack of successful communication and depiction of her beliefs about teacher care, Lindsey wrote:
I want to say something about your interview thing. You asked me if I thought that teachers’ caring would affect academic achievement. My answer is yes, but it might not be [in a] positive way. Caring about someone and believing in them is totally different. I think having people believe in you would definitely help with achievement, but just because somebody cares doesn’t mean they think you have potential. For example, I don’t think Mr. [Teacher] really “cared” about me, but I never once doubted he knew that I could do well and would eventually make something of myself. I think it’s good to have people that care and recognize your potential. There are people at [Setting High School] that I wouldn’t trade my relationships with for anything. Still I can’t help wondering if I’d be a better student or even just be more confident about my goals and my future if instead of people that “care,” I had people that were 100% sure that I can and will become somebody. (emailed by Lindsey to me after the first interview)
As noted, Lindsey is abundantly cared for by numerous individuals and is thankful for her relationships. What she appears to be tackling as a student, a well liked African American female student, is the possibility that care in and of itself is not enough. When trying to distinguish between the importance of teachers demonstrating acts of caring and what could be viewed as a teacher’s belief in an individual student’s ability, Lindsey came to her own realization of the significance of the latter. “I have teachers that care about me and that’s all fine and good whatever, but like they think I’m stupid, well maybe not stupid, but not smart I guess” (1 p. 16).
Within two days of making the previous statement, Lindsey sought me out and requested the second interview as she wanted to clarify some points. Like the follow-up email after the first interview, this action on her part demonstrates deep reflection and contemplation. Providing insight into her thought processes as she formulates her conclusions during the second interview, Lindsey says:
I think it doesn’t matter how much you care, okay that’s not true because I have people who, I mean I like them and it’s fine that they, like I’m sure you care and that’s all good, but like if you don’t think that I’m like about anything or if you think I’m dumb, I don’t, I don’t care that you care. I’m not gonna to take you seriously because you don’t take me seriously and I think that’s where the like being fake thing comes in. Don’t tell me I can get A’s but when I’m in your class blow me off like I don’t know what I am talking about. (2 p. 3)
Lindsey appears to come to a distinction between the importance of teachers demonstrating that they care for her and teachers demonstrating a belief that she is intelligent. Her need to believe that her teachers find her significant at a human level, that she is “about anything,” and that they believe she is intelligent seems to have a greater negative impact on her response to them than whether or not she believes they care for her. This distinction can additionally be seen when comparing Lindsey’s responses to two differing teacher-to-student interactions. When faced with a teacher who blatantly does not care whether or not she completes her class work, Lindsey makes it clear that it is the student’s responsibility to make sure the teacher gives them the make-up work. “Make em’ give it to you,” she asserts during the first interview. “Like if I have to make up something and you like have a teacher who doesn’t care if you make it up you have to be like—I need to do this and I need to do it now” (1 p. 12). She is not offended or hurt by the teacher’s lack of concern and assertively responds by making sure she is getting what she believes she needs to be successful.
However, when Lindsey is faced with a teacher-to-student interaction that she perceives as a comment on her intellectual or academic ability, Lindsey’s response is one of hurt and silence. Upon describing an interaction with her and both a male and female teacher where the male teacher was encouraging her to enroll in an Advanced Placement course the following year, Lindsey shares that the female teacher was very against her taking the course. She is very close to the female teacher and was surprised that she was not supporting her because when she took this teacher’s class, Lindsey felt that while the work was not challenging enough to “make [the teacher] think like, I was like highly intellectual or anything like that” there was nothing from that class “for her to think I was dumb either.” Lindsey conveyed her surprise and sadness that the female teacher was very against her taking the class. “I didn’t think she was serious, but like, she was very serious. And so, like I’m sure that she like cares and all that stuff, but like she didn’t think I could do well in that class” (1 p. 16- 17). Knowing the strong relationship Lindsey has with this particular female teacher I asked whether or not she really believed that the teacher thought she was dumb? Lindsey responded,
Yeah, well not dumb, just not smart. You know what I’m saying? Like kind of in the middle. Like I’m not stupid but, I’m not [changes flow] I think if she [the teacher] saw me at like [District committee] or something like that she would be surprised that I could speak intelligently. (1 p. 17)
When combined with the conviction she shares in the email, Lindsey has surmised that all of the care she is receiving from her teachers, while desirable, may not be enough for her to be successful. Her earlier statements about how she will complete her homework if she feels “it’s really important” or if she will “get anything out of it” suggest that in the forefront of her thoughts are the needs of her future, her life after high school. Possibly due to uncertainty, Lindsey places emphasis on what she needs for her future and what her future holds, and subsequently it is very important to her that her teachers believe she has the ability to be successful in that future. It is important to her to have “people that [are] 100% sure that I can and will become somebody.”
Lindsey’s Contribution
Lindsey’s keen and honest grasp of herself and others is paramount when examining her thoughts and provides credibility to her observations. She has an objective, forthcoming acceptance and realistic appraisal that is unique and quite remarkable for a senior in high school. As demonstrated by her responses during the interviews, Lindsey has the distinctive ability to generalize her impartiality and sophisticated understanding of herself to her perceptive observations of others. She does not judge for judgments sake, she realistically assesses her environment and the individuals within that environment and rationally contemplates the motives and actions of others. Lindsey’s observations of student-to-teacher interaction are noteworthy and significant. She consistently follows the typical Lindsey fashion of “calling it like it is” which provides substantial credibility to her perceptions and subsequent conclusions.
Nick
Nick is a 16-year-old African American male in his sophomore year at Setting High School. He is a high achieving student who had a 4.345 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. In addition to symphonic band and foreign language, he has a mixture of both college preparatory and Advanced Placement preparatory classes. He is an articulate, promising, student athlete who has made his positive presence known in the building as a potential leader and role model for his peers. According to his responses on the questionnaire, Nick is classified as a student who has a high perception of teacher care and a strong connection to the school.
The Gentleman
Having never met Nick in my role as assistant principal, I called him on the phone one evening to arrange the interview. He was cordial as he assured me that it would not be an inconvenience to meet me after his upcoming weekend basketball practice. I asked him if he would need a ride home after practice and he informed me that his mother always picks him up after practice and that she would be glad to wait until our interview was completed.
Upon meeting Nick after his basketball practice to conduct the interview, I was immediately struck by his gentle nature and calm demeanor. Poised and somewhat eloquent, his tall, athletic frame exuded strength and security. His polite verbiage and mature deportment conveyed a sense of confidence uncharacteristic of young males his age. As he leisurely sat across from me in an office on a Saturday afternoon, Nick candidly shared his thoughts in a somewhat refined and faintly deliberate manner.
Mom
Suggestive of his prior thought on the issue, Nick presented a highly developed opinion rooted in parental involvement, specifically his mother’s involvement, as to why some children are more successful than others.
I guess just background, like where they come from, what kind of parents they have. Like if you have, if you have active parents that are, like try to be, try to be included in your life. Like my mom is very overprotective. Like sometimes it’s annoying, but then she’s always pushing me. Like the fact that she doesn’t want anything lower than a “B.” Sometimes it’s annoying because the classes get harder as you get older. But then I know it’s going to work in the long run. Parents try to be, have you included in activities, not just so you’re just like roaming the streets after school. (p. 10)
Nick has connected the efforts made by his mother with his continued success and implies that his life might look very different had she not been so involved. The phrase “roaming the streets” has a negative connotation associated with particular teenage activities dissimilar to the ones of which he partakes. He sees parental involvement, as “annoying” as it might be, as a necessary way for parents to encourage their children to be successful and remain on the right track. Identifying as an absolute positive his mother’s involvement in his life, Nick reveals the results of her efforts. “I am constantly doing something and I always have just that little focus, just to stay, paying attention” (p. 10). Conveying a thankful acceptance as opposed to irritation, Nick understands that his mother follows through with her high expectations by grounding him “from everything, TV, video games, phone, and then she’s threatened sports before” and acknowledges a healthy respect of her high expectations, “C’s don’t go well at home with my mom” (p. 3).
Success in School
Nick enjoys the recognition he receives from his accomplishments and gets satisfaction from doing well in many areas. He is proud of his academic success and is appreciative when others acknowledge his achievements.
I’ve actually had teachers call me, or leave messages at my home talking about how exemplary the work was. And it’s kind of surprising, but then it was kind of a pat on the back too, so you just, it’s like they’re taking time to show that they were, that they were proud of the fact that I was doing my hardest work. (p. 4)
When asked to elaborate on why he feels he is part of the culture at Setting High School, Nick responds, “Just the different opportunities you get, like being nominated for things. Like maybe this in general, the fact that I am being noticed too, for taking this interview. I feel included in the school” (p. 9). In a grateful manner, he expresses happiness about being selected to receive an academic monogram and to participate in a regional student leadership program. His gratitude and pride is clearly evident as he excitedly discusses a statewide student ambassador program for which he was nominated.
Like there are people from like all over Illinois that came. It was here, and it’s like the trip is like Australia next year. And like they can only select, like I think it’s like 15 kids per state. And it’s like you actually have, like there’s a million kids that are selected, and then you have to actually go on an interview to see who [is] going to go or not. (p. 9)
Nick knows that his status as a good student provides him with various opportunities and revels in the knowledge that he gets recognized. He thoroughly understands how a good education will serve him in the future as he already reaps the rewards of his successes. Nick values his high school education and enjoys his success.
As a three-sport athlete Nick must maintain good grades to remain eligible for almost the entire school year, however eligibility appears to be secondary to another factor that influences his academic success.
I’m really competitive in sports and so that kind of translates over into academics. I mean, like I’m not going to be mad at someone for having a higher grade than me, but I mean, that’s going to just make me want to work harder. (p. 10)
In keeping in line with his competitive nature, Nick acknowledges that the added pressures of being an athlete and involved in school activities gives him additional reasons to stay focused. When sharing the realities of being a high school athlete Nick remarks, “There’ll be times when we get home late at night, so I don’t know. I just have, that kind of makes me work harder” (p. 3). Nick embraces the challenges of high school and demonstrates perseverance and confidence in his capabilities. Expressing no concerns when he had a low grade on an early progress report, Nick shared, “I don’t have any problem getting that back up” (p. 3), and is modest when he discusses his capabilities. “I guess for a student like me, I’m not trying to brag about myself or anything, but I do take pride in my schoolwork and . . . I’m usually someone that gets exceptional grades” (p. 2).
Appreciation for Educators
In a nostalgic, somewhat sensitive manner, Nick described a relationship he had with a fifth grade teacher, a relationship he maintains to this day. “She was cool,” he shares. “She was understanding, always helping. She was one of those teachers that just asked if I had any problems, going through some tough times” (p. 10). His gratefulness for the care she demonstrated and the closeness of their relationship is evident as he invited her to his high school academic monogram program. He adds in an indebted way, “I guess she made an impact on it now. I’m trying to pay her back” (p. 10).
Faithful to his value of and appreciation for education, Nick places emphasis on his high school teachers’ ability to make sure he understands his work so he can be prepared for his future. “They’re there to teach you,” he says, “not to worry about what’s going on at home” (p. 3). When explaining how his high school teachers help him when he does not understand something Nick reports, “They’ll ask me what’s the problem and try to see if they can help me with that, just so I can continue my career in school and afterwards” (p. 3). Nick respects his teachers for what they can offer him in the future. He acknowledged throughout the interview that most of his high school teachers have been available to him when he needed extra help on particular assignments and recognized how they demonstrated care through encouragement and concern about him as a student.
That One Teacher
While the overall feel of Nick’s interview session was extremely upbeat, he repeatedly mentioned a specific teacher who was often the exception to his positive take on educators at Setting High School. This year, Nick found himself on several occasions questioning the motives and actions of this particular teacher.
There’s like one teacher that just seems like they could really care less. They were just there to do their job, so I said I’m like, for the most part, all my teachers, like they want the best for me and every other student, so they take the time after school to stay and help if anyone needs it. But just, [pause] there’s just that one teacher. I don’t know if it was just because I didn’t like the teacher, or I don’t know. It just felt like they were just doing their job and they could care less. (p. 4)
Nick concedes that he disagrees with this particular teacher’s classroom rules about tardiness and that it might have an impact on how much he likes the teacher. In response to my question, “Like, what would I have seen if I was an observer in there that maybe didn’t look the same as your other classrooms?,” Nick replied:
I mean some of his rules I don’t exactly agree with. I mean, like with the whole new [rule] you have to be in class before the bell rings or it’s 45 minute detention. I mean, I guess I can understand now, but I mean, his rule is you have to be in your desk before the bell rings. Otherwise it’s detention. So it’s not only, you have to be in the classroom, but you have to be in the desk. And sometimes it’s hard for me because my previous class is all the way on the other side of the school. So I make it there, but he’s warned me a few times just for not being seated. Or, since it’s a weighted class, it’s, there’s a very small minority ethnic group in there and so like every now and then, if I get like a lower grade, sometimes it just feels like there’s bias treatment. But for the most part, like I’ve worked it out with the teacher, so it’s okay right now. (p. 5)
Nick’s attempts to mollify himself by considering that he might just not like this teacher or his rules were not enough to keep his concerns about the teacher from periodically infiltrating his thoughts during the interview.
Uh, I don’t know. Sometimes it’s just different treatment, like calling on certain students. [His] response towards the student’s answer, or just things that they’re doing in the classroom compared to what other students are doing. Like on one occasion, a student of minority was just going up to throw a piece of trash away. And like he [teacher] got really upset about it for some reason, threatened for sending to the dean, saying he was, saying the student disrupted class. And then another one of just, just a white student just went up and did it, and I don’t know. He didn’t really say anything, didn’t seem to pay much attention. So I took a little offense in that, even though it wasn’t exactly directed towards me. But I’ve worked it out with him afterwards. (p. 6)
Nick appropriately confronted the teacher with maturity and confidence. “Yeah, I called him about it. And then I also wanted to discuss a grade with him, just because I didn’t exactly like the grade I got on it” (p. 6). Nick shared the explanation given by the teacher.
He said he didn’t, there wasn’t any racist thought in the mind. But I guess he said it was just, it was the time, we were doing, I guess he was trying to give a speech. Or like, he was telling us notes on a PowerPoint so it was just the time that the student threw it away, not that the fact that they threw it away. And I mean, I guess I can understand that. It feels better knowing exactly why he did it than just saying it and assuming. (p. 6)
While I sensed that Nick was able to reach some solace from the teacher’s explanation, the issue with this particular teacher was not totally resolved. “But I mean, I worked it out with him so now I don’t feel as strongly as I did in the past” (p. 7). Later in the interview Nick reveals that he had thought about the issue quite a bit and even discussed this teacher’s actions with his friends. “It’s not just my opinion, but I mean a lot of other minorities that I’ve talked to feel the same way, that it’s just like they’re being picked on” (p. 6). In his continued attempt to look at this situation objectively as a means of trying to understand why he might have these feelings, Nick considers, “So I mean, that kind of, I guess it kind of changed my, influenced my judgment a little bit, just because like I wasn’t the only one feeling that way” (p. 6-7).
Uneasiness
During his discussions about “that one teacher,” Nick said that he has witnessed other teachers treat various types of students differently and expressed his awareness of possible racial influences in terms of how his teachers interact with students. Nick considers that his teachers may have responded to him differently because he is African American. During his freshman year, “I definitely felt it,” he says when referring to the different treatment he received from his teachers in a few of his classes where he was one of the only minorities.
It wasn’t really a negative response, but it was more like a response of surprise, just because like I don’t know, I might have got the question right. . . . And they just seemed like they were surprised, either because I was a minority or because I was one of the only students that knew the answer. But I mean, I didn’t take any, I didn’t have any ill thought in that. (p. 7)
When I asked him for further explanation of the reaction by one of his teachers, Nick replied “I don’t know. It’s like, just like a long pause before he responds, or, I don’t know (inaudible) just is, you just kind of feel it” (p. 8). Describing it as somewhat of “a little bit of a jaw drop” (p. 8) when his teachers initially hear him provide the correct answer to a question, Nick appears to placate himself when saying “but then as the year progressed they would notice which students were serious about it, and so it wouldn’t happen” (p. 8). Unruffled, he seemed to be searching for a reason for some of his teacher’s responses.
I mean, it’s not just, it’s not because of the minority thing. But sometimes it’s just, it’s happened to a student that’s giving a response to a question. I mean like, I’d probably be the same way [like the teacher] if there’s a student that just doesn’t ever do work and suddenly wants to say something. I mean, do I [as the teacher] want to take the risk of him disrupting class with a joke, or do I want to call on someone that I think is going to be serious about the question? (p. 7).
Throughout my interview with Nick it appeared as if he made efforts to provide a justification to himself regarding his perceptions of some of his teachers’ questionable interactions with students. For many of the references to students being treated differently, Nick afforded a way out to the teacher, an excuse for their behavior grounded in the practical realities of the classroom. Statements such as, “just because of the type of class it was and the fact that it was the right answer” (p. 8) and “like maybe it was just because it was around the beginning of the year” (p. 8) were sprinkled throughout the conversation.
Nick’s Contribution
What makes Nick’s observations and perceptions intriguing and poignant is this exact conflict, his attempt to accept at face value the experiences he has in the classroom crossed with his refusal to just let it go. Nick made efforts to understand various instances and interactions, to question his teacher and reflect upon the influence other students have on his beliefs. No matter how many times he stated “I’ve worked it out with the teacher, so it’s okay right now” (p. 5), he continued to share times when he noticed that minority students were treated differently than white students by some of his teachers. Nick has benefited greatly from his academic and athletic ability and appears to be headed for an extremely successful post-high school career, and impressed upon me his relative objectivity and the ability to maintain his composure. He has every reason to be positive about school and his teachers. Yet, it was apparent that he was bothered by some of the interactions he has had with a few of his teachers.
Jillian
Jillian is a 16-year-old African American female in her junior year at Setting High School. She is a low achieving student who had a 2.838 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. With the exception of two Advanced Placement preparatory courses, Jillian has enrolled in a mixture of both college preparatory and general education classes. She is lively teenager who participates in school functions and sports, however she is relatively unknown to the faculty and staff. Although she is very tall with an athletic physique, her stature doesn’t command attention. She has round, dancing, dark brown eyes that appear childlike among her developing facial features. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Jillian is classified as a student who has a low perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Spirited Presence
I slowly came to know Jillian during her freshman year as she had the tendency to become engaged in verbal encounters with other students in the hallway. If she wasn’t the student immediately in the mix of a loud verbal altercation, Jillian was on the periphery tossing in her own embellished narrative and animated mannerisms. During this time she was friends with a group of African American girls who were prone to having both physical and verbal altercations in school, stemming from issues originating in the community. Jillian often demonstrated the ability to control her own behavior when reminded by an authority figure that what she was doing was not acceptable. Upon becoming a sophomore, Jillian involved herself in these types of situations to a lesser degree. She and I began talking when we would see each other in the hallway and she would occasionally stop by my office to say hello. During her junior year, Jillian seldom contributed to such situations and became an office aide for one of the deans. With the exception of a profane word tossed at a bus driver and her presence during a potentially volatile situation put forth by several male students after the homecoming assembly, Jillian refrained from participating in such endeavors. She now pops through my door with her accentuated flamboyance about twice a week, grabs a soda from my fridge, gives me a hug, and bounces out of my office smiling.
Jillian gestures vivaciously when describing her style, “like I’m loud and I’m the goofy one [in the hallways]” (p. 5) and suggests cultural differences when she describes how she is perceived by others.
Like a lot of, like, I think a lot of people when they first see me, like ‘cause, I know if I were, if I were like, if I put myself in their shoes, and they see me on the street, I might look at her like, well, you know, she’s probably a troublemaker. She probably does [stops thought] and it’s just, it’s not because of like, it’s like, I don’t know. It’s like, like sometimes I might wear, like you might see me and I might have on the big hoops and I might have my hair on the side ponytail, or just the way I’m dressed, or it just depends. Like, I don’t know. It depends on the way, it depends on how, really, it kind of depends on me and how I look . . . . but when you see those types of earrings, you’re first impression, or my first, even when I see somebody and I’m Black [emphasis]. When I first see somebody, my first thing is, she’s really ghetto. (pp 11-12)
The term “ghetto” as presented by Jillian and commonly uttered in pop culture and at Setting High School, identifies a particular type of student or object. To be “ghetto” is to be, among other things, underprivileged, loud, ready to fight, attitudinal, and a poor student who is often in trouble. There is a particular attire associated with “ghetto” that is of the urban or inner-city persuasion. To be “ghetto” while associated with Gangsta Rap and all of the iconic styles attributed to this musical genre, is not heavily criminal or deviant. In the school setting, it is a student who is often but not always an African American, who might be deemed a “thug” by adults. If you get in a fight in a classroom or the hall, you are “ghetto.” If you talk very loudly with your friends, you are “ghetto.” If you drive an old, beat up car, it is “ghetto.”
Jillian can be very friendly and gets along well with all different types of students at Setting High School. “I’m well rounded. Like I’m never with the same people. . . I’m with black people, I’m with white people, I’m with the A’s, and I’m with everybody” (p. 18), a statement supported by the various types of students she currently associates with in school. She is cognizant that she tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve, “When I’m happy, I’m happy, and when I’m sad, or when I’m mad or have an attitude you can tell” (p. 1) and to some extent warns “like I’m not a morning person so more than likely I’m not going to walk in a classroom smiling” (p. 13). She discusses how she acts one way when in school and another way when out of school.
‘Cause, I don’t know. It’s just like, when I’m in school, it’s like school attitude. Like, I have this mentality in my head that’s just like okay, you’re going to school now. You know you got to be here all day long. You know, you have to, you have to learn how to keep your mouth closed. You can’t speak your mind in school. Because you know, you know you can’t speak your mind to a certain extent because you’re in school. You have rules in school. And it’s, it’s a different atmosphere to where, if I see you at the park, it may be, you know, maybe if I had an attitude, I might just say what I thought. Or I might, if I was just happy, I might just be laughing and giggling and goofing off. But it’s a different mentality when I’m in school. (p. 13)
Relationships and Approval
Jillian places importance on the relationships she has with her teachers. During the interview, I asked Jillian why she responded in the mid range to the survey question querying her perception about her connection to the school. I showed Jillian that she marked a 3 on the survey and asked “What do you think you were talking about there?” Jillian responded:
I’m trying, I don’t know. I’m connected to it to a certain extent. It’s all about the relationships you have with your teacher, whether, you know, you look for it. Like some kids might get up in the morning and say, I look forward to school because, you know, I had this teacher this hour, and then I got this teacher in….For me, it’s like every morning I wake and then I have to come to school to [class], knowing that this teacher doesn’t really, you know, like okay, if I go I go. If I don’t, she won’t even notice I’m not there. Like she’ll mark me absent. That’ll be the end of it. It’s not, okay, has anybody seen her, or you know, when she sees me later on in the day she won’t like, oh, where were you first hour? She’s just like okay, if she’s there, she’s there. If she’s not, she’s not. And so if I don’t have, if I don’t feel like I have a reason to come to school besides my education, besides knowing I want to go away to college, you know, get scholarships, then what’s the point of me even being, have to come to school. What’s the point of me coming to school if I don’t really have a reason that makes me want to wake up in the morning? (p. 17)
Jillian is aware of the importance of her education and how it will help to serve her upon graduation, yet it is evident that she hungers for more from her teachers. To associate the lack of a reaction from the teacher referenced in the previous quotation to her motivation for getting up in the morning and coming to school is considerable. She actively searches and longs for even the smallest amount of recognition from this teacher, and is greatly impacted by the teacher’s lack of response. Upon further probing, Jillian slowly wonders:
I don’t know [pause] really. I really can’t answer that question [pause] It’s funny that you just said that because this morning I was reading this astrology book by some psychic or something . . . and she was saying [clarifies for me] I was Pisces. And she was saying how Pisces seem to seek approval from everybody they come in contact with. And it’s kind of weird that you just said, am I seeking approval because in a way, I think I am seeking approval. . . so in a way, I think I am seeking approval from those that I come in contact with. It is the same when I come in contact with my peers, it’s just like, maybe the outfit I wear, like okay, I’m going to wear this outfit because I know this one, like maybe I’ll get attention on this one, or maybe this person [will] speak to me. (pp 17-18)
Jillian continues by specifying who she tries to seek approval from, “I seek approval from those who are like me, more likely from those who are dislike me” (p. 18). When referring to approval by teachers she contends, “Like I want to be noticed and I want like, I want you [teacher] to say, [acts like teacher] okay, you did a really good job on this” (p. 18).
First Impressions and the Typical Black Student
It is extremely important to Jillian that she makes a positive first impression on her teachers. She reveals that when teachers initially meet her they automatically have the impression that she is a “typical black student.” Through tears, Jillian explains:
Like when I’m talking, if somebody were to see me, more than likely they would probably think, think of me as basically the typical, Black, the typical Black student. You know, she comes to class when she feels, or she comes to class most of the time but maybe she does her work sometimes, or she’ll wait till it’s time to catch up to do her work. (p. 5)
Jillian continues with her description of the typical black student later in the interview. “More than likely I will stay in trouble. I probably won’t be in class that much, you know, sometimes I’ll fall on and off with my school work” (p. 8). She expands on her thoughts about making a good first impression, “When they first see me, they look at me and they’re like okay, she’s Black. You know, she’s probably, they kind of put me in a stereotype, they stereotype me too quickly” (p. 8). One of the reasons it is important to Jillian to create a positive first impression on her teachers, a first impression she deems atypical of a black student, is because she relies on it to counterbalance for the occasional times when she neglects her school work. “Sometimes I do fall off” she admits, “and sometimes I have a bad day, and my impression [on the teacher] won’t come off the same way” (p. 10). Jillian is very concerned about what her teachers think of her and worries about whether or not their impression of her will regress to the stereotypical image if she stops participating in class or neglects to turn in an assignment. When describing the complacency that can arise as the school year progresses and she gets comfortable in the classroom, Jillian’s anxiety and concern about slipping in her schoolwork and subsequently providing her teachers with validation of their first stereotypical impression is apparent. Her thoughts about when she forgets to turn in an assignment are a powerful indicator of her fears.
I’m thinking to myself, like oh God, now she [teacher] probably, like her impression of me after she’s seen me, and then she’d met me, her impression changed. And now her impression’s going back to when she first seen me. Like when she first seen, her impression was like, okay, the typical Black student. (p. 6-7)
She later adds, “I would hope that my first impression was a lot stronger than my bad day every now and then” (p. 11).
Outwardly gripped by challenging the initial stereotypical position she sees being taken by her teachers, Jillian continuously struggles to ensure her teachers maintain a positive impression of her. “Like, once you get comfortable, it’s like, it doesn’t, the feeling never really goes away. Like it’s always in the back of your mind, like okay, I know what she [the teacher] thinks of me” (p. 10). She conveys a sense of having to prove something to her teachers, to fight the negative stereotype they have of African American students. “By me doing what I am supposed to do and by me participating in class discussions, answering questions when she asks and just being in class, lets her know, okay, well [she] was wrong. That lets the teacher know” (p. 10). Jillian strives to maintain the appearance that is uncharacteristic of the “typical black student” and implies that it is very difficult for her to consistently give her teachers this impression. She surmises that the negative stereotype is the reason the majority of the African American students at Setting High School are “always in trouble” (p. 7) and hypothesizes “[It’s] not that they’re dumb. It’s not that, it’s not, it’s just, I think they fall into the, they fall into that stereotype that people have” (p. 7).
Jillian’s Contribution
Jillian is forthcoming about the negative stereotype of the “typical black student” and outwardly admits that she demonstrates some of the qualities of students who are considered to be “ghetto.” She is honest about her somewhat negative self-appraisal, and offers this study a glimpse into the perceptions of African American teens unlike Lindsey and Billy. Jillian is the loud student in hallway referred to by Lindsey who tends to intimidate teachers, the type of African American student that does not look or act like Lindsey. Jillian yearns to have strong relationships with her teachers and the impression one gets is that she is exhausted by her efforts to achieve this, and saddened when she can’t. Jillian admits her emotional nature and openly shares her sadness and frustration during the interview. Her continued references to her efforts for acceptance during the long interview imply that for Jillian, these issues are real and significant.
Billy
Billy is a 15-year-old African American male in his sophomore year at Setting High School. He is a low achieving student who had a 2.796 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. In addition to symphonic and marching band, Billy has enrolled in mostly college preparatory courses and is in his third year of foreign language. He has failed first semester ninth grade English two times and with the exception of band, is currently struggling to keep his grades up in all classes. According to his responses on the questionnaire, Billy is classified as a student who has a high perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
An Old Soul
I initially came to know Billy the summer prior to his entry as a freshman at Setting High School. He enrolled in a summer school course designed to provide students with the skills needed to “bridge” themselves into Advanced Placement courses in mathematics. Billy would occasionally laze around the main office during his breaks and got to know his new administration. Blessed with an adorable cherub face and sparkling eyes, Billy smoothed his way into the lives of the adults working that summer. His jolly-like demeanor, somewhat contrasting with an invitingly devilish smile, was apparent as he transitioned from middle to high school.
Billy oozed charisma and charm. During his performance at a talent show his freshman year, Billy’s attire, voice, and choice of song, immediately brought to mind images of Motown greats such as the Temptations and Marvin Gaye. His confidence was clear when he asked me to dance with him at a winter formal. Unlike the contemporary dances being performed all around us on the dance floor by his peers, Billy lead me through a refined dance more familiar to his African American elders. With the air of a father teaching his daughter how to dance, his feet barely touched the ground as he gracefully escorted me around the floor.
Billy’s Blues
Billy has observed several of his family members encounter challenges when trying to obtain their education and earn money. He sees education “as the key. That’s, that’s the only [way] as to get a good job” (p. 12) and as the way of keeping him from living a life similar to the one of his parents and grandmother.
But I see, the reason that I do strive to at least, maybe not in my school work but in my mind and for myself I do, I do try and learn new things every day. But the reason is because my mom is 35 years old and she is a student at [community college]. She is studying to become a teacher and she’s almost done. But she is a single parent and she’s been struggling for a long time. And I see, you know, how she struggles now at her age, and I see how my dad still hasn’t gone back to school. And I see my grandma, you know, she went, she went to two years of college, took off for about ten years, and then went back. And then she went and got her master’s degree. So you know, that made me proud of her. And for me to see them actually have to struggle, you know just to get their degree, or just, you know, just to make ends meet, I don’t want to live like that. (p. 12)
Billy casually describes his tendency to be temperamental and makes no excuses for his somewhat unpredictable behavior.
I have a lot of mood swings and one minute I can be happy, and the next I can be upset, or that I can become angry. And a lot of teachers can pick up on my mood or I might let them know ahead of time like when class starts, you know, [acts like talking to teacher] having a bad day, this is not the day, you know. And a lot of them will just be like, okay. (p. 5)
He says that many of his teachers will accept the pre-warning of his mood as long as he completes all of his work. “If I just need to be off in a corner to myself, just doing my work and not really talking so much to people, then I will just, they won’t mind at all” (p. 6). There are times however when his teachers can’t pick up on his mood, don’t heed his warnings, or choose not to provide him with the space he feels he requires. “But then when you [teacher] confront me and keep pushing me when I’m not in the mood, and therefore I don’t feel like doing something, therefore I’m not going to do it, and then I’m going to confront you back” (p. 3). Billy provides additional insight as he describes what sometimes happens when he is having a bad day.
I might have not wanted to participate that day because I was really upset and I didn’t really feel like being bothered with anybody. And you know they would try and force me to do stuff and I was trying [thinks a second] ask them to leave me alone or send me out of class and they would always threaten me with a referral or something, or send me to my dean. (p. 3)
When asked whether or not his teachers inquire about the possible reasons for his bad mood, Billy reports that many do express an interest in helping him. Billy describes how he responds when his teachers articulate a desire to help him with his problems. “A lot of times, you know, I might say [as if to teacher] well no, not really. It’s just something I have to handle. But then other times I might want to talk about it” (p. 6).
The Activist
Billy communicates that his teachers often see him as a resource in class. During his freshman year, teachers would seek Billy’s insight on classroom matters because “they felt that I was one of the leaders in the class or whatever, so they would talk to me and figure out, you know, what was either going on with me or what was going on with other people” (p. 1). He says that while he is often recognized for his abilities as a leader and as a good student, he is also seen by his teachers as something quite different.
Some of my teachers this year, they like the fact that I am smart. And they, they definitely like the fact that I’m able to help out other people and that I’m able to understand what they’re teaching. But then if I don’t agree with them on certain things, they turn around and they see me as a troublemaker. Or they see me as causing problems for the class because I don’t agree with what they said. (p. 9)
When he is deemed a troublemaker it is often because his teachers share their opinion about something that he fundamentally disagrees with.
Normally it just means they may have an opinion and they voice their opinion, and I don’t necessarily think it was necessary for them to say what they said, or I didn’t feel that what they said was excusable at all, or it was appropriate for them to say in front of an entire class, or something. (p. 2)
In some cases, the teachers have crossed some sort of line and Billy sees it as his responsibility to stand up for the students in his class. He describes an incident where a teacher called his entire class ignorant.
And I agreed with her in the fact that we were ignorant in that field. But it was not right for her to call us ignorant as a whole. So me and her kind of got into a debate about what was appropriate for her, and I ended up getting sent out of class and then talked to my dean about it and she agreed with me. (p. 2)
He says that other students are starting to pick up on the inappropriateness of this particular teacher and stick up for themselves, and that he is starting to feel “like I don’t have to be like the public defender anymore” (p. 9). He increasingly refrains from talking to let the other students speak up on the issue. It appears that others recognize his efforts. When I queried Billy about his penchant for debating or arguing he replied “That’s what, that’s what everybody says. You’re going to be a lawyer someday” (p. 8).
Not only is Billy concerned with defending his peers from inappropriate comments made by some teachers, he is also troubled by how his peers are sometimes treated differently by teachers in class.
There are those kids who might talk every once in a while, and it just seems like the teacher wants to pick on them constantly. They’re always constantly calling on them even sometimes when they know they don’t know the answer. Or, if they know that they weren’t paying attention, it’s to make an example. [As if teacher] You’re supposed to be paying attention to me. See, you weren’t supposed to be talking, you know. (p. 19)
It appears he does understand why a teacher might do this periodically such as in the case when a student is off task and gets deliberately called on by the teacher. “Sometimes that’s good, you know, and shows them that they are supposed to be paying attention” (p. 19). Yet, with a somewhat troubled intonation he concludes:
But then when you constantly make a comment about them, or you constantly try and make an example out of them every day it just seems like you’re picking on them, and it just seems like you’re almost, like you’re playing favorites to other students instead of them. And you’re singling them out as opposed to the class as a whole. (pp 19-20)
Billy identifies one teacher in particular. “It seems to me like this teacher has categories that she puts students in in her own mind” (p. 20). Impressing on me how bothered he is by this teacher’s favoritism, Billy says:
This one, this one, she, it seems to me as if she plays favorites to, to like preppie type girls, preferably Caucasian girls, because, we don’t have any Black girls in our class. [I asked about Black male students] Yeah, there are. There are two, three, three of us maybe. And then there are the Caucasian males who may dress a certain way or, you know, “black” as some people might say. You know, they dress with the baggy jeans, the big jerseys. And you know, if you dress like that, or you act a certain way, or if you’re friends with those people, then she doesn’t like you. (p. 21)
Billy quickly says “Like, I’m not saying she’s like a racist” and continues “It’s not, I don’t think that it’s racism. I just think that she doesn’t, she doesn’t accept them as, as she does certain people” (p. 21). Billy provides an example of favoritism from another teacher later in the interview when he discusses how students are called upon to answer questions in class.
It was almost like if one of us had a question or we would raise our hands, and someone else, preferably Caucasian would raise their hand, they would get called on first, even if we had out hand up first. And it just seemed like well [acting like talking to teacher] hello, I’m sitting right next to him and my hand was already up. (p. 23)
Billy identified an additional teacher who tended to not respond to African American students when they needed help and noted that he and a couple of his close friends “have serious conversations about that” (p. 26).
Respect and Power
Billy takes a firm position on the issue of respect and emphasizes that he responds to others according to his stance.
My philosophy is you have to give respect to get respect. So therefore, if you don’t respect me and you don’t treat me like a person, instead of a child, then I’m not going to like you and I’m not going to respect you, because I don’t let people treat me however they want to treat me. So therefore if you’re not going to respect me, if you’re going to treat me like I’m a little kid and you can boss be around then I’m not going to listen to you, and I’m not going to respect you. (p. 4)
Billy identifies inappropriate acts by some of his teachers as a respect issue and asserts that “some teachers feel they deserve more respect than they should give” (p. 4).
When I asked, “What does it mean, what do I see when someone’s not respecting you? What does it look like?” He communicated his dissatisfaction with the abuse of power he has experienced from some of his teachers.
To me it just looks like sometimes it could be, they’re trying to make, make a point, and their trying to use me as an example in front of the class and say if you do this, then you will get punished. And they try and teach other kids that they can’t really do that in class. And they try and say [acts like teacher] well look, I’m top dog, and I will do this if you don’t listen to me and you don’t do what I say. (p. 4).
Understanding that it is a classroom setting in a school and that he knows he has “to do most of what the teacher says,” Billy expresses his frustration.
When it goes beyond that point as to where you’re [teacher] being, bossing me for no reason, then I don’t really agree with that. Therefore, I don’t want to listen to you and so I see it as you disrespecting me when you’re trying to tell me, you know, basically that you’re ruling me and whatever you say goes. (p. 4)
Billy admits that he tends to want to debate with his teachers about whether or not their statements are right or wrong, and considers that his teachers might “feel it as me challenging them, and then I end up, you know, getting in trouble because they feel that they have to prove that they are the higher person and that they do have power over the classroom” (p. 5). He adds that if he ends up winning the argument, “that it would make them lose their respect from the class. So I think it’s a lot of a power thing” (p. 5). Billy continues by describing the power struggle he sometimes has with his teachers and suggests that they don’t occur because of his need for power, they occur because he’s “not going to let anybody overpower me” (p. 5).
Like I like to have control over myself, to help me out so when they are telling me something that I don’t necessarily agree with, and I feel is totally out the question, then that’s when that power for my self being comes into play and I have to take control over the situation. (p. 5)
This “power for my self being” is further demonstrated by Billy when he discusses what happens with some teachers when they have tried several strategies to help him be successful and get to a point where they decide they have no more to offer him. “There are teachers who are just like, well, you’re kinda on your own” (p. 7), he casually communicates and adds, “If they’re not willing to help me, I just see it as, well, I had to do it for myself” (p. 8). Billy’s determination to take care of himself is again evident when he describes the lack of feedback he receives on returned class assignments from one of his teachers. “I need to go and ask another English teacher how to fix this [assignment] if they’re not going to give me help. So for me, I try and find some source” (p. 16).
And Another Thing
Toward the end of the lengthy interview, when it felt as if we were at the natural point of winding down our conversation, Billy purposefully guided the discussion in a direction of his liking. He impressed upon me his desire to convey what he believed to be important, issues that were left untouched during the interview. Three of the last 4 pages of the 31 page transcript were filled with Billy’s intentional oration. The hour long tape clicked off in the middle of when he seemed to be thinking aloud to gather his thoughts. The new tape was put in place, the recorder turned back on, and Billy began.
Billy: I, with some of them, it’s almost like, like they, I’m trying to think of how to say that. Like they [teachers] don’t want to agree with the fact that there’s a possibility that there is a smart African American male, because they already have that, that thought in their mind and that idea that it’s not possible. So therefore, when I may bring up an intelligent conversation, they feel, you know, blown away. Or they act like they’re really surprised to hear that I would know things about that, or that, or that, you know, I , or that I would even be able to articulate the conversation and be able to find the right words to use. And, you know, its’ almost discouraging. It’s like, well, why wouldn’t I, you know? It’s like, you may think that he does, but he really doesn’t, but I do. So therefore don’t be as surprised about it when I know more than you think I should know. (pp. 28-29)
Interviewer: Once they realize it, does it change or?
Billy: I mean, a lot of times, like in the beginning of the school year, when you don’t really know the teachers, and you know, you’re just starting to get to know each other, I try and go ahead and show my intelligence before hand so they already have, so they try to get it early on, that I’m not really stupid, and that I know more than I may look like I know. And so therefore, they don’t treat me a certain way, and then find out later on that, wow, he really does know what he’s talking about. (p. 29)
Interviewer: Clarify that. Look like you know because you’re Black?
Billy: Yeah, or because maybe the way I dress. You know, they. Sometimes I do like to wear the baggy jeans, or I like to wear the jerseys and things like that. You know, well [acts like teacher] he’s a thug or he thinks he’s a gangster or whatever. So no, he’s probably not that bright. And you know, I like to let them know early on, don’t let the dress fool you. And don’t, don’t prejudge me just because of the way I look. Because you will be surprised. And I mean, I just, with me, I like to prove people’s belief’s wrong. (p. 29)
Interviewer: You do?
Billy: So therefore, if I think early on that someone might not necessarily prefer to have Black students, or they might not, they might not like Black people as much, or they might not like males as much, I like to go ahead and let them know right now that I know what you’re talking about, you know, and I see what you’re talking about, and I understand it. And there is more to me than just me being a male or me being African American. (p. 29)
Billy’s Contribution
Billy’s ability to be honest about his behavior, to recognize how his behavior may impact how he is perceived by his teachers, and his continuation of said behaviors is key to understanding his person. He is not trying to pull anything over on anyone and openly, almost nonchalantly accepts the consequences when he refutes his teachers’ claims or behaviors. He is admittedly moody and loves to argue, seeing himself as the “public defender” for his peers. Billy has a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is appropriate for an adult to say and what isn’t. He may in fact cross the line due to his need to not “let anybody overpower me,” but he is honest in what he reports. He sees what he does in terms of “debating” as a way of providing guidance for others. When discussing his efforts to prove his teachers wrong about his intelligence, Billy shares a glimpse into his desire to advocate for others. “And you know, I try and encourage, you know, my best friend, he’s very smart too” (p. 31), he proudly reports. As if to educate me during the interview in an almost sermon-like lecture, Billy proclaims:
A lot of, a lot of African American kids don’t really have like educational role models, I would say. And you know, because a lot of it now, it’s all about the playing and it’s about the rapping and whose got the most diamonds in their mouth or whatever. But, I mean, there’s no, we have, we have educational role models that once were, such as Dr. King and a lot of other, a lot of other African Americans who are no longer here. But we, there has to be something now, someone now that they can look up to, and you don’t really see a lot of African American educators that are really talked up as much today. (pp. 10-11)
Billy’s contributions add another dimension to the study and corroborate some of the insights presented by Lindsey, Nick, and Jillian. While he hints that he wears the clothes of someone who is “ghetto” as presented by Jillian, Billy only partially takes on this persona. Older than his 15 years, Billy is a personable young man in the middle of purposefully navigating his world and the injustices he perceives to be found therein.
Additional Student Participants
The following is a brief description of eight students interviewed who are not presented as individual portraits. Three of these students are African American females, two are white males, and three are white females. While these students are not presented as portraits, the data gleaned from their interviews played an integral part in the process of pattern identification and the discovery of emergent themes as presented in Chapter Three of this publication.
Sylvia
Sylvia is an 18-year-old African American female graduate of Setting High School. She was a low achieving student who had a 2.895 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Sylvia took general education courses while at Setting with an emphasis on concert choir. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Sylvia is classified as a student who had a low perception of teacher care and a medium perception of connection to the building.
Mary
Mary is a 15-year-old African American female in her sophomore year at Setting High School. She is a high achieving student who had a 5.089 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Mary has enrolled in advanced placement preparatory courses in addition to scattered electives. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Mary is classified as a student who has a medium perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Grace
Grace is a 17-year-old African American female in her junior year at Setting High School. She is an average achieving student who had a 3.393 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Grace has a learning disability and receives minimal special education services as identified on her individualized education plan. She has enrolled in general education classes in addition to her one special education support course each year. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Grace is classified as a student who has a low perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Michael
Michael is a 16-year-old white male in his sophomore year at Setting High School. He is an average achieving student who had a 3.464 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Michael has enrolled in college preparatory classes and participates in the school’s work experience program. According to his responses on the questionnaire, Michael is classified as a student who has a low perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Lee
Lee is a 17-year-old white male in his senior year at Setting High School. He is a low achieving student who had a 2.523 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Lee has enrolled in a mixture of college preparatory and advanced courses with an emphasis on band and music. Sprinkled throughout his transcript are a few lower level courses as well as industrial arts classes. According to his responses on the questionnaire, Lee is classified as a student who has a medium perception of teacher care and a low connection to the building.
Marilyn
Marilyn is a 15-year-old white female in her sophomore year at Setting High School. She is a high achieving student who had a 4.482 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Marilyn has enrolled in college preparatory classes with an emphasis on fine art. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Marilyn is classified as a student who has a low perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Jeannette
Jeannette is a 16-year-old white female in her junior year at Setting High School. She is a high achieving student who had a 5.027 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. With a definite emphasis toward fine art, Jeannette has enrolled in predominantly advanced placement preparatory courses in most academic disciplines. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Jeannette is classified as a student who has a low perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Lisa
Lisa is a 15-year-old white female in her sophomore year at Setting High School. She is an average achieving student who had a 3.25 cumulative grade point average at the time of data collection. Lisa has enrolled in mostly college preparatory courses in addition to concert choir. According to her responses on the questionnaire, Lisa is classified as a student who has a medium perception of teacher care and connection to the building.
Cross-Case Analysis
Guided by the modes for drawing out and constructing emergent themes previously presented in this chapter, the following cross-case analysis will illuminate convergent themes found throughout the interviews with the students who participated in this study. The search for common threads was completed via the experiential process of taking notes during the interviews, listening and re-listening to the audiotapes, reading and re-reading the interviewing transcripts, and returning to selected students for confirmation. Themes naturally emerged from the students’ responses as well as from the questionnaire prompts that were referenced during the interviews. The students had the tendency to speak freely about various topics as the interviews often took the form of natural conversation. At some point during the interviews the students may have articulated explicitly the themes presented. However, a careful exploration of the transcripts’ entirety and depth of the data was often the source for revealing overlapping and buried themes. To address the research questions, emergent themes are presented specific to the student’s race when applicable. In order of most prominent to least prominent, the four themes identified are: expectation of intelligence, commitment to student success, student reaction, and types of students. Present as well yet not identified as a theme due to the possible misunderstanding by the students of the survey prompt, is the concept of students’ sense of belonging and connectedness to the school.
Expectation of Intelligence
Some teachers at Setting High School having a low expectation of intelligence from their students, in this case African American students is the first theme presented. Identifiable from the data is the perception shared by all four African American students selected for portraiture as well as two additional African American students interviewed that some teachers at Setting High School believe, at least initially, that they are not intelligent. The white students interviewed shared the perception that their teachers believed they are intelligent and had the ability to get good grades.
Three of the four African American students presented as portraits, Lindsey, Nick, and Billy, all shared that they have teachers that think they are not smart. The fourth student Jillian, indirectly broached the topic through teacher expectations as she described how her teachers initially see her as the typical black student who does not complete her work and gets in trouble. She shares how her teachers act when they first see her.
I don’t know. Just the way they look. I mean, like their impressions, like their impressions towards me, like when they first see me, just the way they’re looking at me is just like, kind of makes me feel like okay, well, you know, they don’t expect much from me. (Jillian, p. 8)
Nick and Billy provided a clearer distinction as they too connected the low expectation of intelligence made by their teachers to their race. Considering that it is possibly because he is a minority, Nick described how his teachers have “a bit of a jaw drop” (p. 8) when they first meet him and he answers a question correctly in an advanced class. In a more straightforward fashion, Billy outwardly states, “Like they [teachers] don’t want to agree with the fact that there’s a possibility that there is a smart African American male, because they already have that, that thought in their mind and the idea that it’s not possible” (p. 28). It is clear that this perception is pervasive for Nick as he consciously attempts to set his teachers straight as soon as he meets them. “I try and go ahead and show my intelligence before hand so they already have, so they try to get it early on, that I’m not really stupid” (p. 29).
Lindsey, too, directly addresses the low expectation teachers have of her intelligence, however she makes a clear distinction between the significance of care in general and the importance of having teachers who feel she is intelligent. According to Lindsey, it is much more important to have a teacher who believes that she is intelligent and has potential than one that simply cares for her. The following excerpts from her transcript serve to support the significance of the distinction.
I think having people believe in you would definitely help with achievement, but just because somebody cares doesn’t mean they think you have potential. . . . Still I can’t help wondering if I’d be a better student or even just be more confident about my goals and my future if instead of people that “care,” I had people that were100% sure that I can and will become somebody. (Lindsey, personal communication, November 13, 2005)
I have teachers that care about me and that’s all fine and good whatever, but like they think I’m stupid, well maybe not stupid, but not smart I guess. (Lindsey, 1 p. 16)
Like if you don’t think I’m about anything or if you think I’m dumb, I don’t, I don’t care that you care. (Lindsey, 2 p. 3)
Other African American students interviewed shared similar perceptions about their teachers’ belief in their ability; however none of them articulated their understanding of the connection between this belief and their race. When discussing a teacher with whom she and her mother had a conference due to her poor grades, Sylvia says:
I was never on that level where maybe she is [pause] maybe she think I could get good grades, but no I can honestly say that I really don’t think that she had faith in me. And I think me and my mom we actually had an interview, a conference with her and uh, she was just like [acting as teacher talking to her mother] Sylvia is going to get this grade because she is not understanding this and this is how it’s gonna be and I really wish it was something I could do about it. (Sylvia, p. 12)
Sylvia identified how another teacher conveyed to her that she could be successful and get good grades.
She always cared say for instance I got a D on something she was always [acting as if teacher] no, you need to do this better. Cause I was, sometimes I was oh, here she come again and now I look back and I’m like I really thank her for doing that cause what if I did get like a D and just thought that was the bomb, you [know] what I’m saying? And it’s like [acting as teacher] no Sylvia, you can get a better grade than that Sylvia come on now. So she was always there for us like telling me that I could do better on this even if it was an A you can do better. (Sylvia, p. 15).
Grace said that this year two of her seven teachers and one support staff member believed she had the ability to get good grades.
Uh like my [course] teacher, I think that’s how you say it, she be like [acts as teacher] I know that ya’ll can get good grades if you like apply your mind to it or something like that, she states that people can get good grades if you just study. And my other [course] teacher, that’s about it. (Grace, p. 4)
I think they believe, yeah. I don’t know, just them three I guess. My [course] teacher, my [course] teacher and Ms. [support staff] make me feel like I can do it. They make me feel like I can succeed in anything. (Grace, p. 4)
All five of the white students interviewed indicated either directly or indirectly that their teachers believe they have the ability to get good grades. Relevant excerpts from the interviews with the two white males and three white females support their perceptions that there is a high expectation of their intelligence and ability conveyed to these students by their teachers. Applicable sections from the transcripts of each of the white students interviewed reveal a common understanding of their teachers’ expectations.
Michael suggested that his teachers convey to all students that they believe they have the ability to get good grades as a means of motivating them to work hard in school.
All of the teachers that I have had in the past three or four years, all of them have said that I have the ability to get the good grades but I was just being lazy. (Michael, p. 3)
In reference to the survey, when asked directly how he knew that his teachers believe he has the ability to get good grades Lee replied, “Because they tell me that all the time” (Lee, p. 3). “What do they say?” I queried.
It’s like when I turn in an assignment they like say [acting as teacher] you know I know you can do better than this Lee, and all that. Why aren’t you up to par, I know you can do it? A lot of it is because I am lazy. I don’t mind being lazy except when it comes to this. Then I kind of feel bad about it after the year. But they tell me, you know you can do better than this. (Lee, p. 3)
Upon giving Lisa the same direct prompt she responded, “Yeah, because like they want us to get good grades” (Lisa, p. 4). “What do they do that let’s you know they want you to get good grades?” I asked.
Like they try to teach you the stuff, and like some kids they’ll just sit there and look at the board and act like they’re paying attention so like they’ll go something like [acts as teacher] do you understand this? [The student] they’ll be like just yeah, she’ll [acts as teacher] well show me the work and I’ll help you if you don’t understand it. (Lisa, p. 4)
Also like Lee, Marilyn said that her teachers often make it clear to her their belief that she has the ability to get good grades. “I have teachers that straight up come and tell you to your face [acts as teacher] I know you can understand this if you just apply yourself and come in after school for some help. I know you can do it” (Marilyn, p. 6).
Much like the two African American male students presented as portraits, Jeannette had a difficult time articulating exactly what it is the teachers do or say, that in contrast to Billy and Nick, shows in her case that they believe she can do the work and get good grades. “It’s the way they talk to you, it’s what they say and stuff. It’s hard to pinpoint to one thing” (Jeannette, p. 8). Jeannette did connect a particular teacher’s emphasis on academic rigor with his high expectation of intelligence for her and one of her classmates.
I think, I think the fact that he offers such a challenging course, and, he talks to me after class and tells me, you know, like you guys are really smart. Everyone in our class is smart, but you guys really try hard. It makes it sound like, you know, we’re pushing harder. (Jeannette, p. 9)
Commitment to Student Success
The commitment to student success demonstrated by teachers at Setting High School is the second theme that surfaced from the interview data. For the purposes of this study, commitment to student success is defined as the teachers’ efforts to ensure that students understand their schoolwork, teachers’ efforts to provide students with feedback, and teachers’ responsiveness to students. Conveyed by both the African American and white students was the perception that some teachers at Setting High School demonstrate that they are committed to having their students be successful and some teachers do not. Overall, the African American students spent a greater amount of time discussing those teachers that did not demonstrate a commitment to their success. The white students spent a greater amount of time than the African American students discussing those teachers who demonstrated a commitment to their success. Presented are relevant excerpts from the students framed within the identified element of teachers’ commitment to student success.
Understand schoolwork. The component of teachers’ commitment to student success most discussed by the students was the teachers’ efforts to ensure that they understood and learned their schoolwork. As a means of differentiating overall perceptions across race, each student’s perception is identified as being overall negative or positive with respect to this component. This determination is based on how long the student spoke about the topic, how many examples the student provided in the positive and in the negative, how much probing it took on the part of the interviewer to get a response, and the interviewer’s overall perception of the discussion. To support the researcher’s identification of a student’s perception being either positive or negative in the area of understanding schoolwork, excerpts from each interview are provided.
All of the four African American students offered as portraits shared their perceptions on the matter during the interviews. Jillian spent a significant amount of time during her interview on the subject and is identified as having an overall negative perception in the area of teachers’ ensuring that students understand their schoolwork.
They just, they teach. They don’t, they don’t like directly speak to students. They just teach the class and they don’t like, I don’t know. It’s like they don’t connect with the students. Like they know who you are and they know you by face, and they know by your name, and they know you by grades and your work. But as far as like they’ll pull you [to] the side, saying [acting as teacher] okay, I know you have difficulties with this so are your understanding what we’re doing now? They don’t do that. (Jillian, p. 2)
Because most of the teachers, they teach it to you as a class, and then if you don’t understand it, you don’t understand it, pretty much. (Jillian, p. 3)
I mean we have group discussions, but it’s not like [teacher] makes you get involved. Like she doesn’t make you get involved. Like if you don’t say anything, you just don’t say anything. She doesn’t call on you or like she doesn’t make you get involved. Like, we go to sleep in her class. We just sleep in her class. She doesn’t, she doesn’t wake us up and say, [acting as teacher] okay, we’re learning something new. (Jillian, p. 3)
But most of my teachers are just like, okay, they teach it to you, this is what you have to do. If you don’t do it, then you just don’t do it. It’s not like, they’re like, well, like [acting as teacher] okay, you need to make sure you do your homework or else your grade’s going to go down to this. This is going to happen. It’s just like they’ll give them to you, what you’re supposed to do, and if you don’t do it, you don’t do it. (Jillian, p. 4)
Jillian extended her thinking to include how her teachers neglect to demonstrate their commitment to her success when they seem indifferent about whether or not she attends classes.
Like, I don’t, like again, it goes back to, it’s like I get the impression that if I don’t come to class, I just don’t come to class. It’s not like, you know, they’re like, they’re looking for me. It not like they’ll, you know, they look in the computer and find out if it’s excused, medical. It’s just like, you don’t come to class, you don’t come to class. When you get to class, I’ll give you your work. And that’s the end of it. (Jillian, p. 17)
She identified how it feels when a teacher does ask her why she wasn’t in class.
That’s letting me know they care that, they care that I’m missing class. Like, [acting as teacher] why are you in the hallway? That lets me know that they care, that, you know, I need, they let me know that they want me to be in class, and they want me to learn something, and they want to be able to teach me. You know, they want my other teachers to be able to teach me and let me know. (Jillian, p. 9)
Lindsey, Nick, and Billy all acknowledged that some teachers do not make efforts to make sure students understand their schoolwork and learn the material; however they also identified many teachers that did. Nick and Billy’s perceptions of teachers’ ensuring that students understand their schoolwork is identified as positive, yet they did provide examples of when teachers have shown that they were not concerned that they learned their schoolwork. Lindsey’s perception is identified as negative, but she had clear examples of when teachers had shown her that they wanted her to understand the work.
Nick: I mean, I don’t need help in every subject, but for the like the ones I did need help in, they were available. (Nick, p. 2)
Billy: They, most of them were willing to spend time with me, and they were willing to come in early or stay later than they really have to, to help me out. And a lot of them, when I would come in, in the morning, they would, you know, they would allow me to stay a little after class had started, and they would get their class together, and they would allow me to stay a little after just to make sure that I got everything, and made sure that I understood it. And then, you know, they would ask me to come in again at lunch if I needed to, or whenever I needed to come in there and get some extra help, they, a lot of them were willing to help me do that. (Billy, p. 8-9)
Lindsey: Some do and some don’t. . . . Like they’ll go over with you more closely and just make sure that you get it and they ask you a lot of questions to make sure you understand. And other teachers are just kind of like [acting as teacher] do the assignment or don’t, whatever. (Lindsey, 1 p. 3)
[Teachers] just make sure you understand. And like will spend time before and after school, their lunch, hall duty, whenever just going over stuff to make sure you get it . . . . Like I think in [specific discipline area] they’re just kind of like [acting as teacher] here it is, but that is just like with [those] teachers. (Lindsey 1 p. 3-4)
During the interviews, the three African American students not presented as portraits all addressed their teachers’ efforts to ensure they understood their schoolwork and learned the material. Grace and Sylvia conveyed the strongest feelings of the three, and all three of them are identified as having negative perceptions regarding whether or not teachers try to make sure they understand their schoolwork.
Grace: Well like I said, my math teacher, but she also makes me come in after school and makes sure I understand it, and them [support staff] the only two people I can really say make sure that I get my work in and make sure I understand my work. Like some of the teachers that say [acts as teacher] well if you need to come in then you can. But they really don’t necessarily like [acts as teacher] well I see that you been doin bad on this, can you come and see me? Them the only two that I feel like they do that . . . . those just the two teachers that tell me [acts as teacher] well, it seems like you havin a hard time with this, can you come and see me after school on such and such date and then I make it happen. (Grace, p. 2)
I mean well you, let’s say if I don’t do some work and I [don’t] turn it in it’s like [acts as teacher] oh well, you just got that grade. They don’t call. They don’t pull you aside and ask you well how come you don’t do this, how come you didn’t do this. (Grace, p. 3)
Sylvia: It’s like they don’t even care! Well some of em, I don’t want to say all cause it is some teachers out there that care. Some don’t even care like, I get a 50% on it, dang that’s bad, a 50% - that’s an F. I mean at least you say [acting as teacher] Sylvia, this is what we gonna do. Every time you take a test we gonna try to get your percentage higher. I don’t care if you don’t pass this test but if you get a 59% that’s gonna show me a little something, there okay, she understand this, I got her. [still acting as teacher] You get a 60% next time, and oooh, bring her up every time. But you [talking as if to teacher] see I’m just keep on getting these 50s and 40s we gonna have to do something about that. (Sylvia, p. 7)
I have ran across teachers where [acts as teacher] okay, so what if they don’t know it. All right, she should have knew this before she got here. (Sylvia, p. 8)
Some teacher[s] there for the money, hey, there for the money and then you have em, some teachers where [acts as teacher] I’m gonna help you no matter what if I have to stay after school until 10:00 at night I’m gonna help you, that’s how much I want to help you. Then you got some teachers [acts as teacher] nope, gotta go. My time up and they don’t pay me. (Sylvia, p. 10)
Mary: Oh, I don’t know, like, I guess they just like they teach the stuff, issue homework, you did it or you didn’t do it but they weren’t going to force you to do it. Or be like [acts as teacher] oh by the way, you’re missing this. You would have to like go there and ask what am I missing or something. Leave it more in your hands that you have to come and find out what you need to do in order to get a good grade. (Mary, p. 3)
There were a couple of [teachers] that would be [acts as teacher] you know, you should do your work or you know, makes sure you understand and say [acts as teacher] oh if you don’t understand I’ll be after school at this time for you to do it, but [pause] not all of them because they had their other obligations and things to do. (Mary, p. 4)
The five white students interviewed all addressed the teachers’ commitment to students’ success via their efforts to make sure the students understand their schoolwork. The general tone of Michael’s interview was negative and this specific query was no exception. He is identified as having a negative perception in this area. Generally, Marilyn’s responses fell more toward the middle but overall she is identified as having a positive perception of teachers’ efforts to make sure she understands her schoolwork. Jeannette, Lee, and Lisa are all identified as having a positive perception and fell well toward the positive end of the spectrum. None of the white students spent a large portion of time focusing on this topic during the interviews and all conveyed to the researcher the sense that it was somewhat of a non-issue for them. Answers were fairly short and efforts to probe further were for the most part unsuccessful.
Michael: Most teachers say that [acts as teacher] you know you have a low grade you need to bring that up. But they don’t actually ask you like why did this happen or what caused you not to do your assignment or why did you fail this test. They just kind of want you to get your higher grade no questions asked. (Michael, p. 2)
Interviewer: Do you have any teachers that have shown you that they care that you understand what is going on in class?
Michael: Not that I think of at the moment. (Michael, p. 2)
Marilyn: Yeah, like some of the teachers don’t, it’s just like they don’t care if you do your work or not and they don’t care if you’re there or not and it’s just, either your coming to class or not. And I’ve had more of those types of teachers kind of this year than I did in previous years and, just stuff. (Marilyn, p. 7)
Well I had, I have one teacher this year, one teacher last year they just, they just told you what to do and if you did it or didn’t, they wouldn’t really care and so they didn’t really say you should try harder or anything. But for the most part I had teachers that say you should try harder. (Marilyn, p. 3)
Like Jillian, Marilyn extended her thinking to include how she perceives teachers demonstrate commitment to her success by how they react when she returns to class after missing a day.
If you’re not there [in class] they’ll most of them like they’ll say at the beginning of the year like they’re not gonna come ask you, they’ll tell you what you missed the day before but most of the time they come and tell you what you missed so you know they knew that you were gone, so they wanted you to be there. They usually, they got it [schoolwork] ready in their hands and you know that they were looking for you. (Marilyn, p. 5)
Lisa: My 8th hour teacher she, if we didn’t understand it she’ll like stop and come around and be like [acts as teacher] well this is what you do, this is how you do it, she goes, not looking for perfection, you know, she goes, I just want to make sure everything is okay and you don’t have to understand all of it. I just want to you to understand the important parts of it, the main parts. (Lisa, p. 4)
She [teacher] was [acts as teacher] I’m not grading it to see if you’re right, I am grading it to see if you’re getting it and understanding what I’m doing. So, like I need to know if you understand it. She’s like, I don’t care if it’s all right, I want to know if you understand what you are doing. (Lisa, p. 3)
Jeannette: I would say that if they [teachers] saw somebody struggling and they’re having bad grades, they would try to help them understand it more, but I think just because my grades are higher, that they assume that I understand everything. (Jeannette, p. 2)
Interviewer: What does it look like with someone showing you that they cared that you understood your schoolwork?
Because they would come up to me either during class or after class [acts as teacher] well I saw this and I was reading through it [his work]. I wanted to let you know that this is what you could do to change it. I think it is really important that you change it so you do this on down the line. (Lee, p. 1-2)
Interviewer: Is that all of your teachers or most of your teachers?
Lee: Just about all of my teachers. Back in middle school it wasn’t that extreme. (Lee, p. 2)
While all 12 students interviewed contributed to the current discussion on teachers’ commitment to student success via their efforts to ensure students understood their schoolwork, it appeared from the amount of time spent discussing the issue that the African American students found the topic of greater import. Many of the 12 students, both African American and white, acknowledged that some teachers do and some teachers don’t work to make sure they learn the material. From the seven African American students, five are identified as having negative perceptions and two as having positive perceptions in this area. Of the five white students interviewed, one is identified as having a negative perception and four as having positive perceptions. For the most part, the examples provide by the students were similar in that they included teachers being willing to work or not work after school hours, teachers helping or not helping students, and teachers taking extra time to make sure the students understood what is going on in class. There was an exception found in the interviews of Jillian and Marilyn. Both students recounted how they feel when they return to class after missing a day. Jillian, an African American student, perceived her teachers as being indifferent to her when she returns to class. Marilyn perceived that her teachers were aware that she was gone and that they made efforts to get her the work that she missed.
Feedback. The component of teachers’ commitment to student success identifiable as the next prevalent across interviews was the teachers providing feedback to students about their schoolwork. While a few of the 12 students participating in this study made little or no mention about feedback during the interviews, a majority of the students provided examples and commentary. Excerpts from 8 of the 12 students interviewed are presented. The first four are from African American students and the last four are from white students.
African American Students:
Because I mean I think my grades are accurate, but I mean like in English last year when we did impromptus I would always get a B or a B+ but he [teacher] never put why I didn’t get an A. That used to bug me so much. I’d be like what am I not doing? And like I never go that he’s like [acting as teacher] this is really good and this is really good. But I guess it’s not bad that I get positive feedback or whatever, but if I need to improve like tell me what I need to improve on. And like, I don’t get a lot of that. (Lindsey, 1 p. 9)
Oh, some teachers were just like, some teachers will be happy to talk about why you got a certain grade on the assignment. And then others will just be like [acting as teacher] that’s the grade . . . . It’s, it, you know, it just kind of feels like they don’t feel like telling me exactly what. But I mean for the most part it’s okay. Like if I have a question about why I got a certain grade, they’ll be happy to explain it to me. (Nick, p. 4-5)
Generally I don’t get feedback. Like generally like most of the time, I won’t even ask for feedback because like if they don’t write on my paper like when they, once they read it, they don’t write it there. (Jillian, p. 14)
On like homework and papers and stuff, you know, they’ll write stuff and, but then they won’t go over it with you, you know? They’ll tell you what to fix, and they’ll tell you, you know, what was wrong with it, but then they won’t tell you how not to make the mistake next time. (Billy, p. 14)
White Students:
Some of them give you a lot of feedback, actually take time to grade the work, um, but what you need to fix and stuff and all that teacher stuff. . . . misspelling a word, missing commas, having a sentence that makes absolutely no sense, stuff like that. (Michael, p. 4)
Oh you know, they write little notes, this is good idea here and stuff. But if I’m talking to a teacher [acts as teacher] oh it’s good, it’s good. They don’t give me real honest feedback about it. I’m like, what about here? [acts as teacher] Oh well, it’s not horrible . . . . Sometimes I think that, but I mean sometimes I think teachers are actually concerned whether or not the students like them and they don’t want to upset them. Like they’re not going to say [acts as teacher] oh your papers suck let me tell you. But that’s the kind of feedback I need. So I can, you know, if my paper truly just stinks, so I can make it better. (Lee, p. 5)
Like comments about it. Like you get an English paper, say your English paper back and you’re like you messed stuff up so they’ll [teachers] like put notes by it to help you to say by your final draft to help you understand more. Just like write comments on there like if it’s bad, they’ll say [acts as teacher] you, this doesn’t go here, this has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. Or they’ll write little comments on your essay when you get it back they get it back to you and you read it and its like oh, okay. And it helps you to understand it more so you can do it right the second time. (Lisa, p. 5)
Yes, like the good job or nice paragraph. They put something like you need to develop more thought or didn’t understand, they just a put a question mark like they didn’t understand what you were meaning. (Marilyn, p. 4)
From the excerpts, it appears that the African American students may receive a different type of feedback, a possibly less specific type of feedback, than the white students. The data suggests that the African American students may receive less follow-up from their teachers after they receive written feedback. Evident from the excerpts is that the majority of the students are aware of the feedback they do or do not receive, that some students place value on the feedback they receive, and that some students long for more, specific feedback from their teachers to improve their schoolwork.
Responsiveness. An additional area identified within the component of the teachers’ commitment to student success is the perception the students have of their teachers’ responsiveness towards them. Consisting predominantly of the teachers’ verbally responding to students’ ideas or contributions and the teachers demonstrating indifference to students, responsiveness was the least prevalent of the three areas of teachers’ commitment to student success. The following excerpts serve to provide support for this finding.
She [teacher] didn’t respond. We were talking about what we wanted to do and like me and [a friend] wanted to be teachers, do for our future or career and stuff like that. And what it would be like to teach at [Setting High School] and different places and like how we thought it was now and she [teacher] wasn’t taking me seriously. Like I didn’t know what I was talking about you know what I am saying? It was like she said [acts as teacher] Lindsey, shut up. You don’t know what you are talking about, but you just can kind of tell. (Lindsey, 2. p. 2)
Lindsey returns to the topic a few minutes later in the interview.
Like when I was sitting there I kind of felt like oh she’s not saying anything to me but I didn’t think oh, I’m being dismissed and blown off until I thought about it. And I was like yeah, that’s what that was. And it’s frustrating to think back on it. (Lindsey, 2, p. 4)
Jillian provides an example of what sometimes happens to her when she tries to make a contribution to a class discussion.
Sometimes I get the impression like, when I do say something, like when I do participate in class discussions sometimes, sometimes I get the impression that it’s just like [acts as teacher] um, okay, yeah. And they’ll like listen up. And they hear what I’m saying, and [with] the others [other students] they kind of, like they’ll restate it, but they kind of turn it around or add something to it, or take away. And it’s like okay, tell me I don’t understand. (Jillian, p. 16)
A large percentage of Grace’s interview was spent on her perception of teacher responsiveness.
Like when you ask them [teachers] for help and they just brush you off like you just didn’t say nothin. And they when you go back up there later or like when you get your progress report you be like when I came up there and tried to do this and they try to reverse it all around like [acts as teacher] well, you should have just came up there, you should have just came up there again. And it’s like [acting as if talking to teacher] well I came up there the first time and you told me to sit back down and you weren’t even really doin nothing. So you got to deal with that. (Grace, p. 5)
Like Jillian, Grace shares what sometimes happens when she tries to participate in class discussions.
Sometimes, it’s like you’ll say something and it’s like they [teachers] act like they listen but you can tell it just went in one ear and out the other . . . . I mean cause like you could raise your hand [and] they call on you then you say what you got to say and then sometimes if it’s good then they respond to you. If not then they just go [acts as teacher] well we just gonna go to the next person. (Grace, p. 6)
Michael responded a bit more positively, however he noted that there are times when he perceives that his teachers do not respect his contributions to class discussions.
Most times they do but sometimes if you get the answer wrong they kind of shoot you down totally and then they just go to another person. Even if they do it politely, it’s not very nice the way they do it. One teacher is like [acts as teacher] okay, that’s a good answer but let’s try somebody else. (Michael, p. 7)
Like Michael, Lee has some teachers who do not respond to his class contributions. For the teachers that do, Lee appears positive as he explains how they build upon his ideas for the class.
Well the ones that do, they’re like [acts as teacher] That’s a good point. And then they will talk about why it’s a good point and if they have an idea otherwise they will say [acts as teacher] well, however, if you think about it this way. And then, you know, it gives me good feedback. I know that it also gives other students good feedback. (Lee, p. 8)
Marilyn also provides insight into the area.
Well I’ve had some classes where that’s all we did for the whole period, we just talked about, like you can get them talking on something else if you wanted to ask a question and we’d have a discussion on what you thought and they never would say like, well, I don’t think that. They’d listen to it and be open with your ideas. They would never say like your ideas were wrong or stupid or anything like that. . . . They would say like if you had, a something that they thought that you had good information to back it up with they would say that could be used here in this way and stuff like that. (Marilyn, p. 5)
Of the seven African American students interviewed three, Jillian, Lindsey, and Grace, placed emphasis on their perception that their teachers sometimes were not responsive to them. Of the five white students interviewed, Michael and Lee commented on the topic and noted that many times their teachers do respond to their contributions in a positive way. Marilyn, a white student, spoke little on the subject however her comments were positive. From the 12 students interviewed, there was less emphasis placed on the component of teacher responsiveness by the white students and the comments that were made by them were toward the positive end of the spectrum. A greater emphasis was placed on the component of teacher responsiveness by the African American students and the comments that were made by them were toward the negative end of the spectrum.
Student Reaction
The reaction of students in response to their perceptions of various aspects of teacher care is the third theme identified from the data. With respect to this theme, the students referenced times when they perceived that their teachers were not providing them with assistance, were not concerned about whether or not they completed their assignments or about the quality of the assignments, and did not respond to them when they participated in class. Much like the two previously presented themes, expectation of intelligence and commitment to success, overall the African American students spent more time discussing the topic during the interviews than the white students. Not much comment was made by either group regarding how students reacted when they perceived their teachers as caring in the referenced aspects of teacher care. In terms of when the students perceived their teachers as not demonstrating acts of caring, the African American students tended to react by giving up on their work or refraining from further participation. One of the two white students who briefly commented on the area conveyed that he would just find another way to address the given issue when his teachers did not provide him assistance with his work. A white female who spoke very briefly on this area as well, noted that she had given up initially when the assignments became more challenging but that her teacher’s encouragement caused her to start trying the work again. Excerpts from the interviews are presented in support of this finding. The first set are from African American students and the second set are from white students.
African American Students:
Because I mean, if you [teacher] don’t care, why should I care? I mean, it’s not like, it’s not like, obviously if you don’t care if I do it [schoolwork] why should I even care if I do it? Because it’s not going to make an impression with you, so no point in doing it. (Jillian, p. 3)
She [teacher] didn’t break it down [an assignment] part by part by part and explain to me why we do this, and how do you get this, and why do we have to get that. She didn’t do that. So it didn’t really help me, so there was no point in doing it. (Jillian, p. 3)
If you [teacher] don’t care, I don’t care. Because I’m going to do what I have to do, but at the same time, it’s just like, I might not put my full capability into it, just because I know. Just like, I might just barely make it by in your class just because of the type of attitude or impression that I get from you. (Jillian, p. 19)
I be like skip it. I just go to something else. I be like I’m not about to keep on getting up, even though I just got up once. I’m not about to get up again [and ask for help] just so I can be told just to sit back down again. Not going to happen. So I just sit down there, talk, or read or something. (Grace, p. 5)
In response to teachers that convey the message that they do not care if she understands the assignment, Sylvia relates her reaction to how she feels about the teacher.
Like I have teachers where I just could not stand, I hated goin there and I knew right then and there that was gonna make me not have a good grade because if I don’t like this teacher, I can’t sit here and listen to what they got to say. That’s kind of how it is sometime, like if I’m, if you don’t like a certain person, aint no way you gonna sit there there and listen to what they got to say. (Sylvia, p. 11)
Acknowledging that it doesn’t happen to her, Lindsey discussed how she has witnessed other students react when they try to participate in class discussions and the teachers do not respond to them positively.
I mean if you’re not taken seriously like when you like make a comment in discussion or stuff like that, and not even, it’s not like the teacher laughs or anything, it’s like they don’t take it anywhere and they don’t like try to like get more out of you to like see what else you have to say. I’ve seen that happen. I’ve seen it happen in a class I am in now and like, I wouldn’t want to talk anymore if like when I said something it was kind of like, I don’t know. When I make a good point it’s like we go further into my point and we explore or we try to find evidence about what I am talking about and if you don’t get that, I wouldn’t want to say anything if I saw other people get that. (Lindsey, 1, p. 18)
White Students:
It [teacher’s efforts] makes me like, well if you’re [teacher] telling me I could do it, you know, I could probably do it. If I think, you know, I get help [with] it, [I] try it. I could probably do it. (Lisa, p. 4)
Lisa shared a time when she initially stopped doing her Spanish schoolwork because she did not understand the assignments. Her teacher made efforts to encourage her and Lisa started to do her work again.
I’ll raise my hand in class and then they’ll be off doing whatever they’re doing, not noticing me and I’ll be like screw it may arm’s tired. And then I will put it down and try to figure it out for myself. And usually that works, but I don’t get a lot of help from teachers most times. (Michael, p. 7)
Michael responds to times when he does not get help from teachers in class.
Types of Students
The fourth theme that emerged from the cross-case analysis is the existence of students at Setting High School who are perceived by the students interviewed as not concerned about their schoolwork. These students are characterized as those who do not attend class, do not complete their assignments, disrupt the classroom environment, and in some cases place teachers in potentially volatile situations. The students interviewed conveyed their understanding as to why some of their teachers don’t respond to these other students in the same way as they do those students who show they are concerned about their studies. Some of the students appeared to empathize with the teachers and understood why it is they might stop showing that they care to these particular students. The following are excerpts from the interview data that support this finding.
I think that there’s some kids that they [teachers] just realize that they’re never gonna do their homework no matter what and that they just really don’t even bother them about it because there is some kids that you could try and try and try. . . . They’ll [teachers] try and then they’ll, something I seen teachers that do it for the first quarter and then if they don’t they don’t even ask anymore. (Marilyn, p. 4)
Well you know, a lot of people really just don’t care about school and they show it through the work. (Lee, p. 4)
I mean it is kids out there where you just don’t want to see em, you just like, here they come again. It is kids like that our there. Because sometimes they’re so negative, they’re violent and you don’t want to see em comin. You know? And I don’t blame teachers for [not being concerned if they skip] you know cause teachers put they life on the line for us. (Sylvia, p. 14)
The teacher has kids out here talking because they don’t want to tell the kids to be quiet because some of them kids, they scream at them teachers, they be rude, you know? And it’s like you [teacher] get tired of that. (Sylvia, p. 16)
Like I don’t think they [teachers] show concern to every student. Like if there are like students that they notice don’t really care about the homework and aren’t doing anything, I don’t think they take their time. Because I don’t think they [the students] care . . . . Maybe they’re [teachers] not as open to help them out, just because they don’t see how the child can benefit or how it’s going to be easy for them to help if they don’t care in the first place. Because some kids just don’t, just have the attitude it doesn’t matter either way. (Nick, p. 2)
Well like, why try to teach something to someone who’s not willing to learn so you [teacher] just you, just don’t and you let them do whatever. Like you’ll [teacher] try for awhile, but after awhile it gets old and you just let them do whatever. I guess if they don’t want to do it, they’re not going to so. (Mary, p. 5)
I guess they [teachers] have less patience for certain kids they know are not going to take them seriously or just troublemakers or whatever. (Mary, p. 10)
Both African American and white students made reference to the existence of other students who are not concerned with their schoolwork and who subsequently seem to receive less teacher care. Neither group placed any more or less emphasis on the topic than the other.
Sense of Belonging and Connectedness
Throughout the interviews it became apparent to this researcher that the students did not fully understand the purpose of prompt numbers 14 and 15 from the questionnaire. The questionnaire prompts read:
Prompt 14. I wasn’t connected to the school
Prompt 15. Like I didn’t belong at school
The students often spoke freely about the other prompts, sometimes specifically stating they wanted to discuss one over the other. For many students, most of the prompts were not specifically referenced and the students had a free flow of ideas that took them on their own course of interest. Since there was little elaboration on prompt numbers 14 and 15 by the students and the concept presented is important to the study, the students who did not reference the prompts on their own were asked to specifically comment about the prompts. In some cases the students asked the researcher for clarification and then upon understanding the purpose of the prompt, shared their perceptions. Because the students did not generate the topic on their own as was done for the four previously identified themes, the responses given are not identified as a theme that emerged from the cross-case analysis. Meaning, unlike the four previously identified themes, the totality of the interview data does not support sense of belonging and connectedness to the school as a theme due to the students’ lack of self-initiated emphasis on the topic. However, this researcher contends that the data from the solicited prompts provides information that is relevant to this investigation. To support the researcher’s inclusion of the students’ sense of belonging and connectedness to the school, excerpts from interviews are provided.
African American Students:
Sylvia: I was connected to the school. I talk all the time, I was [in] the play. I was always involved in singing with the choir. I always felt connected. Like it says like I didn’t belong. No [emphasis] I belonged at that school. That was my school. That’s my [stomping] ground, that’s me right there. (Sylvia, p. 17)
Grace: Like I know most of the teachers, I got a whole lot of friends here. I know my way around it, just, it just, I feel, I feel like I belong here, like I’m connected to the school, teacher-wise and friend-wise. (Grace, p. 7)
Nick: But I mean, just the different opportunities you get, like being nominated for things. Like maybe this in general, the fact that I’m being noticed to, for taking this interview. I feel included in the school. (Nick, p. 9)
Interviewer: (to Mary) What is it about the school, what is your connection?
Mary: Well coming, I spend a lot of my day here, wake up early and stuff. Like my friends and the sports. (Mary, p. 9)
Interviewer: (to Mary) Yeah, you do feel part of us? The school itself?
Mary: Yep. (Mary, p. 9)
White Students:
Lee: A lot of this is from last year. I’m not wanting to be here. There have been a couple of low points in each year where I have just not wanted to be here. I mean, I was in marching band so I felt like I had some connection to the school, but after it was gone. (Lee, p. 9)
Interviewer: (to Marilyn) During the previous year I felt like I wasn’t connected to the school, you kind of put in the middle of the road.
Marilyn: I mean I talk to people and I get along with pretty much everybody. I really don’t have any enemies. But it’s kind of like my own fault really cause I don’t, I haven’t done a sport, I think that’s just cause I was home-schooled [a year prior] and I was kind of scared about it. But I am going to do softball this year, but then I changed my mind. But I think I am going to do it next year.
Interviewer: (to Marilyn) You kind of put like you agreed that you didn’t belong in school. Why did you put that?
Marilyn: Well, like lately I have had a few problems with some people. (Marilyn, p. 6-7)
Interviewer: (to Jeannette) Like I wasn’t connected to the school? What does that mean? You’re in the middle on that one. Why do you feel not connected?
Jeannette: I’m not really. I think I would change that now. But when, like, I’m not really enrolled in anything. Like I’m not in any sports. . . . And there’s not very much I do inside the school, because I’m so pulled outside. I mean, I have a job, I’m in therapy, and all this. I have church and all this stuff. And so sometimes it feels I’m like just in the classes and then I’m gone. (Jeannette, p. 17-18)
Interviewer: (to Michael) I wasn’t connected to the school, you put strongly agree. You don’t feel connected to the building?
Michael: I do not like this school at all. (Michael, p. 8)
Interviewer: (to Michael later in the interview) Would you like it if people would remember you more? Would you like it if teachers spoke to you more?
Michael: It would make me feel a little bit more involved if people you know, would remember me, would say hi on my way out of the door or whatever. But that usually doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen with a lot of students. I found that students that get into trouble often are usually the ones who are remembered because they are in trouble all the time so that’s the way that is. And most of the students who are quiet and who usually behave are not really shunned but kind of forgotten about. (Michael, p. 15)
The portraits of the four African American students also provide this study insight as to the perception these students have in terms of their connectedness and sense of belonging to the school. Lindsey, Nick, and Billy clearly demonstrate a feeling of being connected to the school and a sense of belonging. Jillian too perceives that she is part of the school, but to a lesser extent than the other three. When combined with the interview data from the African American students who were not selected for portraiture, there is a strong indication that the African American students participating in this study perceive a sense of belonging and connection to the school. Four of the five white students interviewed indicated to varying degrees that they do not perceive a sense of belonging and connection to the school.
Summary of Cross-Case Analysis
The four themes identified from the cross-case analysis of interview transcript data are: expectation of intelligence, commitment to student success, student reaction, and types of students. The themes are presented in order of prominence as supported by the student interviews. This section presents a summary of each theme through narrative and a chart, and identifies if and how each theme is collectively manifested across race. Also included is a summary of the information gleaned regarding students’ sense of connection and belonging to the school.
The most prominent theme identified and supported by the interview data is the teachers’ expectation of student intelligence. African American students participating in this study indicated that their teachers, at least initially, believe that they are not intelligent. White students in the study indicated that that their teachers believe that they have the ability to get good grades. None of the white students commented about their teachers believing that they were not intelligent. Six of the seven African American students discussed their teachers believing that they were not intelligent or didn’t have the ability to complete their schoolwork. Three of the African American students connected the low expectation of their intelligence made by their teachers to their race.
The second theme identified and supported by the interview data is the teachers’ commitment to student success. This study further delineates the teachers’ commitment to student success into the following components: understand schoolwork, feedback, and responsiveness.
Teachers’ making efforts to ensure that their students understand their schoolwork is the most prominent of the three components of teachers’ commitment to student success. Every student shared that they have some teachers that do make efforts to ensure that they understand their schoolwork and some teachers that don’t. As a means of differentiating overall perceptions across race, each student’s perception was identified as being overall negative or positive. Five of the African American students have a negative perception regarding whether or not teachers try to make sure they understand their schoolwork. Two of the African American students have a positive perception. One of the white students has a negative perception and four have a positive perception of whether or not teachers try to make sure they understand their schoolwork.
Teachers providing feedback to students about their schoolwork was the next most prevalent component of teachers’ commitment to student success. A majority of the students indicate that they are very aware of and place value on the feedback they receive from their teachers. Some of the students stressed that they longed for more feedback from their teachers as a means of improving their schoolwork. Although the excerpts presented suggest that the African American students may receive a less specific type of feedback and less follow-up from their teachers upon receiving written feedback, the totality of the interview data does indicate a difference in perception across races.
The third and least prevalent component identified within the teachers’ commitment to student success is the perception the students have of their teachers’ responsiveness towards them. There was less emphasis placed on this component by the white students and their comments tended to be toward the positive end of the spectrum. A greater emphasis was placed on this component by the African American students and the comments that were made by them are toward the negative end of the spectrum.
Given the totality of the interview data as presented through the three components of understanding schoolwork, feedback, and responsiveness, the African American students presented a negative perception of teachers’ commitment to success. The white students presented a more positive perception of teachers’ commitment to student success.
The third and next most prevalent theme identified from the interview data is students’ reaction when they perceive that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring, usually in the form of providing help with assignments and responsiveness. When they perceive that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring, the African American students who spoke on the matter tended to give up on schoolwork or refrain from participating in class. The white students who addressed this area indicated that when this happens to them they search for other ways to find a solution. One white student indicated that she did give up once, but that she tried again due to her teacher’s encouragement.
The final and least prevalent theme identified is types of students. Some of the twelve students interviewed made reference to other students at the school who were not concerned about their schoolwork and who subsequently received less teacher care. The teachers’ commitment to the students’ success as identified earlier in this chapter, tended to be the area most discussed. They perceived that in general, teachers would stop making efforts toward students’ success and would stop responding to students who they perceived to be not concerned about their schoolwork. The totality of the interview data does not indicate a difference in perception in this area across races.
Not identified as a theme but deemed relevant by this researcher are the students’ perceptions of connection to the building and sense of belonging to the school. The totality of the data indicates that the African American students participating in this study perceive that they have a connection to the building and a sense of belonging to the school, and the white students participating in this study do not perceive themselves to have a connection to the building and a sense of belonging to the school.
A cross-case analysis chart is provided to describe further how each theme was represented across the twelve students that participated in the study (see Figure 2). Themes are presented in order of prominence, with the seven African American students listed before the five white students. An “X” recorded in a box indicates that a particular theme was supported by the interview data from the corresponding student. An empty box indicates that a particular theme was not supported by the interview data from the corresponding student. The “+” indicates the student’s positive perception related to the theme identified and the “-“indicates the student’s negative perception related to the identified theme.
| |Expectation of |Commitment to |Student Reaction |Discussed |Connection and |
| |Intelligence |Student Success | |Types of |Sense of Belonging |
| |(Ability to get | | |Students | |
| |good grades) | | | | |
STUDENT |+ |- |+ |- |+ |- |YES |+ |- | |Lindsey
African-American | |X | |X | |X |X |X | | |Nick
African-American | |X |X | | | |X |X | | |Jillian
African-American | |X | |X | |X | |X | | |Billy
African-American | |X | |X | |X | |X | | |Sylvia
African-American | |X | | | |X |X |X | | |Mary
African-American | | | | | | |X |X | | |Grace
African-American | |X | |X | |X | |X | | |Michael
White |X | | |X |X | | | |X | |Lee
White |X | | | | | |X | |X | |Marilyn
White |X | |X | | | |X | |X | |Jeannette
White |X | |X | | | |X | |X | |Lisa
White |X | |X | |X | | | | | |
Figure 2. Cross-Case Analysis Chart. “+” indicates the student’s positive perception of the identified theme. “-“ indicates the student’s negative perception of the identified theme.
CHAPTER SIX
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS
Introduction
Presented in this chapter are the findings, conclusions, recommendations, and implications for practice developed as a result of this investigation. A brief review of the study is provided, followed by a section dedicated to a discussion of the findings. The third section presents the conclusions formulated based on the findings and the literature review presented in Chapter Two. The fourth section of this chapter offers four recommendations for practitioners from Setting High School, identifies possible uses and limitations of this study, discuses the significance of this research, and gives suggestions for further research. The final section elaborates further on the findings in terms of the implications for practice at Setting High School.
Review of the Study
The focus of this investigation is to examine African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care in a Midwestern urban comprehensive high school. The central question to be answered by the present inquiry is, “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School concerning teacher care and could these perceptions affect their academic achievement?” The study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What are the perceptions of low income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School?
2. Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
3. Are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?
A qualitative case study research design incorporating features of case study and essentialist portraiture has been employed to gather the data necessary to answer the research questions. The students participating in this study attend Setting High School where the researcher is the assistant principal. Twelve low-income students, seven African American and five white, agreed to participate in interviews conducted over a course of several days. The data from the interviews as well as the personal knowledge the researcher has of some of the participating students was used to create portraits of four African American students. A cross-case analysis of the themes that emerged from all twelve students interviewed was conducted.
Discussion of Findings
Contained in this section is a discussion of the findings from this investigation that were presented and analyzed in Chapter Five. The discussion is framed within the context of the study’s central question and the literature review presented in Chapter Two. The answer to the central question asked, “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School concerning teacher care and could these perceptions affect their academic achievement?” is addressed via the guiding research questions posed in this study.
The first research question to guide this study is “What are the perceptions of low-income African American high school students of teacher care at Setting High School?” The most prominent theme to emerge from the data gathered during the interviews serves to answer the question posed. The African American students in this study perceive that there are teachers at Setting High School who, at least initially, believe that they are not intelligent. As presented throughout the literature review, one of the ways teachers demonstrate that they care about students is to have high expectations for them. The African American students participating in this study have the perception that this component of teacher care, having high expectations of their intelligence, is not demonstrated regularly by their teachers at Setting High School.
The first guiding question is also addressed by the second most prominent theme to emerge from the cross-case analysis presented in Chapter Five. The teachers’ commitment to student success is defined in this study by their efforts to ensure students understand their schoolwork, to provide students with feedback, and by the degree to which they are responsive to students. The literature review presented substantiates these three components of a teacher’s commitment to student success as elements of teacher care. Given the totality of the data, the African American students who participated in this study have a negative perception of their teachers’ commitment to their success.
The fourth and least prominent theme from the cross-case analysis serves to answer the first guiding question as well. Some of the African American students indicated that when their teachers begin to see that particular students do not care about their schoolwork, they stop caring about those particular students. The teachers’ commitment to the students’ success was the area most discussed as the African American students perceived that teachers would stop responding to students who they felt were not concerned with their schoolwork.
Not identified as a theme, however deemed significant by this researcher from the interview data, is the finding that the African American students perceive themselves to be connected to the building and to have a sense of belonging to the school. All three sections of the literature review presented in Chapter Two serve to support the understanding that a sense of belonging and connection, often referred to as being part of a community, is a component of school care that incorporates elements of teacher care. The African American students at Setting High School have a positive perception of care regarding their sense of belonging and connectedness. It is not evident from the data whether or not this positive perception is due to their teachers’ efforts to ensure this connection and sense of belonging or other factors present in the school environment.
The second guiding research question to be answered by this study is “Are these perceptions specific to low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?” The research design enabled the question posed to be answered via the collected data as only low-income African American and white students were included in the study. The cross-case analysis and subsequent developing themes and observations provided a means for identifying how each theme was manifested specific to the students’ race.
The most prominent theme, the teachers’ expectation of student intelligence, is manifested differently across the races and therefore serves to answer the second guiding research question. This component of teacher care, having high expectations of student intelligence and the belief that they can complete their schoolwork, is perceived by the African American students as not being demonstrated on a regular basis by their teachers. The white students participating in this study perceive that their teachers believe that they have the ability to get good grades and that they are intelligent. The perception that some teachers have a low expectation of their intelligence and ability to complete their schoolwork is specific to the African American students participating in this study.
The second most prominent theme is the teachers’ commitment to student success. This consists of the teachers’ efforts to ensure that students understand their schoolwork, to provide students with feedback, and to be responsive to students. Overall, the African American students have a negative perception and the white students have a positive perception of their teachers’ efforts to ensure that they understand their schoolwork. In terms of feedback, the data suggest that African American students may receive a less specific type of feedback and less follow-up from their teachers upon receiving written feedback. The African American students’ perceptions of teacher responsiveness is toward the negative end of the spectrum and the white students’ perceptions of teacher responsiveness is toward the positive end of the spectrum. The totality of the data representing the students’ perceptions of their teachers’ commitment to student success indicates that there is a negative perception specific to the African American students.
The students’ reaction when they perceive that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring, usually in the form of assistance and responsiveness, is the third finding from this investigation. When they perceive that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring, those African American students who spoke on the matter indicated that they tend to give up and stop completing their schoolwork. The white students who shared the same perception indicated that they tend to search for other ways to find solutions when their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring. The tendency to give up and not complete the schoolwork when they believe that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring is a perception specific to the African American students participating in this study.
The fourth and least prevalent finding from the cross-case analysis is the identification of types of students and the amount of teacher care they receive. The students perceived that when their teachers believe that a student does not care about their schoolwork, the teachers stop responding to the student and refrain from making efforts to ensure their academic success. This perception was shared by the students and is not specific to the African American students who participated in the study.
The final finding identified in the cross-case analysis is the students’ perceptions of their connection to the building and sense of belonging to the school. The totality of the data indicates that the African American students have the perception that they are connected to the building and feel a sense of belonging, and that the white students do not. This perception of connectedness and belonging is specific to the African American students participating in this study.
The third guiding research question is “Are these perceptions significant in terms of the potential they have to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American high school students at Setting High School?” To answer this question, the significance of each theme identified is presented.
Expectation of Intelligence
The most prominent discovery from the cross-case analysis is the finding that the African American students perceive that their teachers, at least initially, have a low expectation of their intelligence and ability to complete their schoolwork. Given the acceptance in the literature of the relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement, this finding is significant in terms of the potential these perceptions have on the academic achievement of the African American students at Setting High School. Possibly more significant is the specific expectation noted by the students, the low expectation the teachers’ have of their intelligence and ability to complete their schoolwork. Established in the literature review contained in Chapter Two of this investigation is the role race plays in the academic achievement gap specifically pertaining to the perceptions and actions of teachers. Racist beliefs affect the academic achievement of minority students as they can contribute to low teacher expectations that may have a psychological impact on African American students. Researchers have made a connection between the psychological impact of race and the direct experiences African American students face as they attempt to create their own identities within an environment that they perceive to be in conflict with maintaining their cultural identity. Teachers’ having a low expectation of an African American student’s intelligence is consistent with the tenets of stereotype threat which has been identified in the literature as being a considerable factor perpetuating the achievement gap. The psychological process becomes relevant when African American students find themselves in situations where the stereotype of their group is applicable, such as the stereotype of low intelligence in the school setting. Evident as well is the relevance of attributional ambiguity, or the self-imposed questions generated by minority students when they are faced with feedback about their performance.
Commitment to Student Success
The second most prominent theme identified via the cross-case analysis is that the African American students who participated in this study have a negative perception of their teachers’ commitment to their success. The teachers’ commitment to student success, defined as their effort to ensure students understand their schoolwork, to provide them with feedback, and by the degree to which they are responsive to students, has been established as an element of teacher care. Given that teachers’ commitment to student success is a component of teacher care, this perception is significant in terms of the potential it has to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American students at Setting High School. Although the emerging research does not support that care in and of itself directly impacts academic achievement, it strongly suggests that via its affects on student engagement, care influences academic performance. The likelihood that teacher involvement and care encourage higher student participation is further supported in the research as a means for increasing student engagement. Additionally, the literature review supports that caring relationships between students and teachers may have a greater impact on the academic achievement of African American students than white students. When African American students perceive their teachers as individuals who care about their academic performance, or are committed to their success, they are more likely to be academically engaged and have higher academic achievement.
Student Reaction
The tendency for the African American students to give up and not complete their schoolwork when they believe that their teachers are not demonstrating acts of caring has significant potential to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American students at Setting High School. The completion of schoolwork provides students with feedback that is a critical component of the teaching and learning process. By not completing their schoolwork, students potentially forfeit their receiving of knowledge and instruction that may greatly impact their success. Considering that low-income African American students at Setting High School have the perception that there are times when their teachers do not demonstrate acts of caring towards them in conjunction with how they tend to react, it is probable that their academic achievement is impacted.
Types of Students
Both the African American and white students who participated in this study identified the existence of students at Setting High School who receive little, if any, care from their teachers. The students perceived that when their teachers believe that a student does not care about their schoolwork, the teachers stop responding to the student and refrain from making efforts to ensure their academic success. Given the extant research synthesized in the literature review and the findings from this investigation, the potential this observation could have on the academic achievement of low-income African American students at Setting High School is significant.
Established in the literature review and this study is that not all students experience teacher care and support equally and that race is one of the factors that influences teachers’ differential treatment of students. Many educators enter the classroom with preconceived notions about the abilities of students from varying racial backgrounds which can impact their expectations of these students. Low-income African American students in this study perceive their teachers as having a low expectation of their intelligence upon meeting them and have a negative perception of their teachers’ commitment to their academic success. The findings suggest that there may be a cycle of perceptions occurring in the classrooms that has the potential to impact the academic achievement of low-income African American students. The African American students could be responding to what they believe to be their teachers’ low expectations of their intelligence, acts of not caring, by acting as if they do not care about their schoolwork. The teachers then perceive the students as not being interested in their own success or caring about their schoolwork so in turn they stop responding to them and refrain from making efforts to ensure their success. The teachers might be concluding that an African American student does not care, when in fact the student gave up on the assignment because they felt the teacher was not committed to their success. Noted is the fact that the students in the study did not indicate that the non-caring students who receive less care from their teachers were African American students. Yet one must consider the portraits of Jillian, Lindsey, and Billy which indicate that there is the perception at Setting High School that there are some African American students who do not demonstrate that they care about their schoolwork, and therefore might be receiving less caring behaviors from their teachers. Billy additionally identified the existence of some white students who tended to “act black” who also did not receive the same type of care from their teachers.
Connectedness and Sense of Belonging
There is a strong indication that the African American students participating in this study perceive a sense of belonging and connection to Setting High School and that the white students do not share the same perception. Given the overwhelming agreement with this perception among the African American students and the overall poor academic achievement of the African American students at Setting High School, this perception does not appear to be significant in terms of the potential it has on impacting the academic achievement of low-income African American students.
Necessary however is a discussion regarding how the students define a sense of belonging and connectedness, a definition centering upon socialization and their involvement in activities. The African American and white students place emphasis on sports, clubs, and friends, group classes such as marching band and chorus, and the amount of time spent at school as indicators of their connection and belonging to the building. There is little emphasis placed on their connection and relationships with teachers, with the exception of the portrait of Lindsey who provides a distinction between teacher care and their belief in her intelligence or ability. When the African American students discuss connection and belonging they rarely speak of their relationships with teachers. The white students too neglect to speak of their connections with teachers and overall convey a sense of not wanting to spend much time in school. When referring to the literature review demonstrating that the comprehensive high school has been shown to be an uncaring environment for many students due to its size and the organizational structure that reinforces anonymity, it is the responses of the white students, not the African American students that support this facet of the research.
Conclusions
There are perceptions of teacher care specific to low-income African American students at Setting High School that have the potential to influence their academic achievement. The low-income African American students participating in this study perceive that their teachers, at least initially, believe that they are not intelligent and have a negative perception of their teachers’ commitment to their success. There is a tendency for these students to react to this negative perception of teacher care by giving up and not completing their schoolwork. Teachers at Setting High School have a propensity to react to students who they perceive as not caring about their schoolwork by refraining from making efforts to ensure their academic success.
Well established in the literature is the understanding that teacher expectations can significantly impact the academic achievement of students. The low teacher expectations identified in this study have the potential to impair the academic achievement of students. The specific type of teacher expectations prevalent in the findings, the low expectation teachers have of African American students’ intelligence and ability to complete their schoolwork can impact their academic achievement and may be enhanced by the psychological influences of stereotype threat and attributional ambiguity. The African American students’ negative perception of their teachers’ commitment to their success has the potential to impact their academic achievement via its affects on their engagement. A sense of belonging and connectedness to the school as perceived by the students participating in this study has not been determined to have the potential to impact their academic achievement.
Recommendations
From the conclusions of this study, we know that low-income African American students at Setting High School have specific perceptions of teacher care that have the potential to impact their academic achievement. We also know that teachers demonstrate less care to particular students they perceive as not caring about their schoolwork, and that low-income African American students have the tendency to stop completing their schoolwork when they perceive that their teachers do not care if they are successful. The conclusions derived provide guidance for school improvement efforts at Setting High School in addition to implications for further research.
Recommendations for Practice at Setting High School
Four recommendations have been formulated based on the findings from this study with the intent of increasing the academic achievement of African American students at Setting High School. This researcher is in the position to facilitate discussions with the school improvement team regarding the possible implementation of the recommendations. While the recommendations are site specific, unique to the idiosyncrasies and culture that is Setting High School, they are fully supported by the extensive literature review presented in Chapter Two.
The first and second recommendations serve to develop an emphasis on specific types of teacher care at Setting High School designed to address the negative perceptions held by low-income African American students. It is hoped that once teachers understand that the low-income African American students associate care with these specific types of teacher behaviors, they will pursue the active demonstration of these behaviors in their classrooms. The data gleaned from this research enables them to prioritize their caring actions in a manner that focuses on the findings presented. For example, a teacher’s top priority might shift from asking students about their personal lives upon first meeting them to emphasizing that they have high expectations of their intelligence and ability. Given this knowledge of the importance of perceived teacher care and the specifics relevant to Setting High School, the teachers will know what characteristics and skills they should nurture in themselves in order to improve the students’ perceptions of teacher care, potentially impacting their academic achievement.
Based on the findings and the research presented in the literature review, the school improvement team may wish to explore the possibility of teachers setting individual goals and proactively planning to include statements and actions that convey their high expectations of the African American students’ intelligence and ability. This recommendation can be facilitated at Setting High School via the professional growth model of teacher evaluation utilized by the District. Teachers at Setting High School are required to identify professional growth goals that are in line with the District’s goals of improving the achievement of African American and low-income students in reading, math, and writing. The teachers are also required to set goals specific to the core expectations for teachers as prescribed by the District’s teacher evaluation plan. Together with a building level administrator, teachers create these professional goals and develop activities to meet the goals at the beginning of each academic school year. Given the research data, one of a teacher’s professional growth goals could focus on one or more of the following core expectation areas as identified in the District’s supportive supervision plan:
1. Enhances positive student self-concept and attitude toward learning.
2. Is sensitive to and addresses students’ needs in relation to gender, culture, ability, etc.
3. Establishes and maintains high learning expectations for all students.
Good and Brophy (1991) offer guidance by identifying seven steps for achieving goals that emphasize the positive as a way of avoiding the effects of negative expectations. According to the authors, teachers should form and project positive expectations that are realistic and represent genuine beliefs about what students can achieve. The authors suggest that the teachers’ might accomplish such goals through the following steps:
1. Concentrate on planning to teach (and where necessary, reteach) the material to the class or group as a whole rather than worrying too much about individual difference.
2. Keep expectations for individual students current by monitoring their progress closely; stress present performance over past history.
3. Set goals for the class and for individuals in terms of floors (minimally acceptable standards), not ceilings. Let group-progress rates, rather than limits adopted arbitrarily in advance, determine how far the class can go within the time available.
4. When individualizing instruction and giving students feedback, stress their continuous progress relative to previous levels of mastery rather than how they compare with other students or with standardized test norms. In planning and delivery of instruction, concentrate on students’ present levels of understanding and mastery (and the implications of these for present instructional needs), rather than on how the students are doing relative to one another.
5. In responding to student performance, do not confine yourself to evaluating success or failure. In addition, provide students with the feedback or additional instruction they will need in order to meet the objectives.
6. When students have not understood an explanation or demonstration, think in terms of diagnosing their learning difficulty and following through by breaking down the task or reteaching it in a different way rather than merely repeating the same instruction or giving up in frustration.
7. In general, think in terms of stretching the students’ minds by stimulating them and encouraging them to achieve as much as they can, and not in terms of “protecting” them from failure or embarrassment. (Good & Brophy, 1991, p. 140)
Marzano (2003) provides further direction that could be beneficial to the teachers at Setting High School when he summarizes the research on teacher expectations. The author concludes that teachers should directly communicate high expectations to students and that the way to facilitate this is through the establishment of specific goals for individual students (Marzano, 2003).
Referencing the guidance provided by Good and Brophy (1991) and Marzano (2003), building level administrators at Setting High School may wish to work collaboratively with teachers to develop goals specific to individual African American students that communicate high expectations of their intelligence and ability to complete their schoolwork. By approaching this within the District’s existing requirement for professional growth and embedding it within established building practice, teachers will be more apt to accept and in turn act upon this recommendation.
Similar to the first, the second recommendation encourages teachers to place emphasis on a particular facet of teacher care deemed significant by the low-income African American students at Setting High School. The teachers’ commitment to student success, defined by their efforts to ensure students understand their schoolwork, to provide them with feedback, and by the degree to which they are responsive to students, has been established as an element of teacher care that has the potential to impact academic achievement. The teachers’ commitment to student success identified by the low-income African American students is a form of teacher care found in the literatures on best practices and effective teaching. In an effort to provide the teachers with ownership of the process, this recommendation suggests the use of an already existing format for implementation that emphasizes teacher collaboration, collegiality, and lateral accountability.
Every Wednesday at Setting High School, students are released early and teachers meet in course specific teams to work on the development of common assessments and to align the assessments to State standards. Once the assessments have been created and aligned, the teams move to discussions about best practices in instruction and learning relevant to their discipline and course. The school improvement team may wish to utilize this existing structure to springboard discussions about developing strategies that address the three components of care in each of the teacher’s classrooms. Guidance in the form of clarifications and questions could be provided to the teams by the school improvement team’s instructional committee prior to their discussions. Once the teams have formulated plans for addressing the three components of teacher care, they may decide to share their strategies with their departments. The department chairs may be asked to discuss the feasibility of creating a departmental goal that addresses the teachers’ commitment to students’ success based on the strategies identified. In doing this, addressing the components of teacher care is integrated into an already existing system, making it more palatable to the teachers. Important to the process is the recognition that the data suggests there are some teachers at Setting High School who do actively demonstrate a commitment to their students’ success. By grouping these teachers with some teachers who may not demonstrate such a commitment, the opportunity exists for the sharing of ideas and strategies. This system has worked extremely well at Setting High School in the areas of curriculum and assessment, further supporting the probable success of this form of implementation.
The third recommendation is for the school improvement team to encourage teachers to identify what it is they say and do that causes the low-income African American students to have the perception that they have a low expectation of their intelligence and ability, and a negative perception of teachers’ commitment to their success. Unfortunately, based on the findings, it is not possible to identify for the teachers exactly what it is they say and do that causes the African American students to think that they have a low expectation of their intelligence. The students in this study couldn’t articulate it and suggested that it could be a look of surprise the teacher gives or a very brief comment they make. This task is made even more difficult due the varying levels of sensitivity students have to subtle communication cues or voice tones (Good & Brophy, 1991).
One possible way to catch the subtle nuances of their behavior is for the teachers to videotape themselves as they teach classes on several occasions. This provides them with both the audio and video of their actions as well the possibility of observing the reactions of their students when they make certain statements and gestures. An instructional lab is currently being constructed at Setting High School that will afford the teachers the opportunity for self-observation and subsequent reflection. If desired, the teachers will be able to bring their classes to the lab, videotape themselves conducting a class, and then review the tape at a later date. While the logistics are easily accomplished, full implementation of this recommendation is much more complex. Teachers would need to be trained on how to effectively conduct self-reflection observations so that they can objectively view their tapes and adjust their dialogue and actions accordingly. Along with the creation of the instructional lab came the creation of an instructional committee charged with providing the entire faculty coaching in self-reflection. A formal system for implementation that utilizes professional development early-release times could be made part of the school improvement plan for Setting High School.
There is an additional recommendation based on an investment to be made by the teachers at Setting High School, one that is much more difficult to address. This investment goes beyond the implementation of strategies and professional development. It is an investment requested of each teacher to truly examine their beliefs about the capabilities of African American students and to recognize the possibility that they may be promoting the differential treatment of students based on race. As was done with the data from Noguera’s (2001) study at Berkley High School, the data from this study could be presented to the faculty in hopes that it will open the door to positive discussions on the sensitive topic of racial stereotyping and differential treatment. These honest and open discussions about the implications of the findings from this study for the students at Setting High School have the potential of moving the faculty to collectively as well as individually address the issue. The suggestion for schools to actively secure the trust and confidence of minority students as a means of securing “relational diversity” identified in the literature review, further serves to support this final recommendation for Setting High School (Bennet et al., 2004).
This final recommendation also includes a commitment made by the administration of Setting High School to provide the teachers with the opportunity to see successful African American students. Ferguson (1998) concludes that the reliance on teachers to have confidence in the potential of African American students is unlikely to change their expectations, and argues that they need to see low-income African American students performing at high levels. Teachers at Setting High School should be afforded the opportunity to visit schools with high achieving low-income African American students, be provided with the achievement data on schools in the State that are achieving significant results with low-income African American populations, and be provided with information that highlights academically successful low-income African American students at Setting High School.
Use of Study and Limitations
It is the responsibility of the researcher to openly and honestly recognize the relative usefulness and possible limitations of the present investigation. Although this study was specifically designed to explore whether or not the perceptions of low-income African American high school students concerning teacher care have the potential to impact their academic achievement at a specific setting, it does not preclude the findings and subsequent conclusions from being useful in a number of schools. Setting High School is representative of a demographic population and school size very common to numerous high schools in the country. With the exception of Hispanic students, the state of Illinois has a demographic profile that closely resembles that of Setting High School. Schools in the State educate 57.4% white students, 21.1% Black students, 17.1% Hispanic students, 3.6% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native. Of these students, 15.1% receive special education services and 36.9% are identified as low-income (United States Department of Education, 2003). The demographic profile for Setting High School during the 2004-2005 school year was 59.2% white, 29.1% African American, 2.6% Hispanic, 6.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.4% American Indian/Alaskan Native. Of these students, 18% received special education services and 36.5% were identified as low-income. Additionally, Setting High School is a member of a professional association containing 54 similarly defined districts in the state that represent over half of Illinois’ public school students (Large Unit District Association, 2006). For numerous schools with similar contextual environments that serve a multitude of students, the findings from this study are particularly cogent and useful.
The findings from this study can be used to inform decisions regarding the educational practices prescribed for all African American students, not just those who are identified as low-income. While only low-income African American and white students participated in this study, it is logical that similar findings would have been discovered had students not identified as low-income participated. Unlike race, socioeconomic status is not evident upon seeing an individual. Teachers at Setting High School have little means of knowing whether or not a student is identified as low-income and are not in the practice of actively seeking out this information. Race is the factor easily identified and possibly the determining factor for both the students’ perceptions and the teachers’ actions. Had the low-income white students expressed the same perceptions as the low-income African American students, race may have been removed from the discussion. As the findings support a difference in perception of teacher care across the two races, a perception established irrespective of socioeconomic status, the findings from this study are significant for African American students of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.
The limitations of this study are found within the confines of the investigation’s purpose. As a practitioner, I specifically selected an investigation designed to improve the educational practices at my school setting. This administrator wished to obtain information that could be used by the practitioners at Setting High School to improve the academic achievement of the low-income African American students at Setting High School. As a researcher, I knew that my findings would be limited to the extent to which they would apply to other school settings. Learning communities are contextual, having peculiarities specific to their settings that are multidimensional and transformative. While the complexity of the system that is the Setting High School learning community prevents the findings from being transferable to other school settings, the information gleaned from this study can be referenced as a means of informing the educational practices with similar student populations.
Significance of Study and Future Research
The findings from this study are significant in that they provide guidance to school administrators as they attempt to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind (2001) and strive to identify effective means of ensuring that African American students have the same opportunities for success as their white counterparts. The academic achievement gap is a serious problem in American schools that for moral, ethical, and economic reasons cannot be tolerated. The results of this study extend the understanding about low-income African American high school students’ perceptions of teacher care and the potential these perceptions have on their academic achievement.
In addition to providing guidance for future investigations, the findings from this study add some weight to the existing arguments surrounding perceived teacher care by African American students and the impact these perceptions may have on their academic achievement. A specific result of this study is the movement away from the theoretical discourse on teacher care to practical usage as called for by the field (Prillamen, Eaker, & Kendrick, 1994). Related research has focused primarily on curricular initiatives, institutional practices, and cultural discontinuities (Noblit, 1993; Van Galen, 1993; Sanacore, 2002). As a result of this study, the concept of care for low-income African American students at Setting High School is now operationalized and therefore practitioners can concentrate on tangible goals to achieve desired outcomes. Future studies should focus on the impact of educational interventions implemented based on the tangible goals identified, and should strive to establish a relationship between specific demonstrations of teacher care and the academic achievement of African American high school students.
Highlighted in this study are the perceptions held by low-income African American high school students that their teachers demonstrate a low expectation of their intelligence and ability to complete schoolwork. Fully accepted in the educational field is the agreement that teacher expectations impact the academic achievement of students and that minority students are subjected to lower teacher expectations than their white counterparts (Denbo, 2002; Ferguson, 1998; Haycock; 2001). This study supports the prevailing understanding and adds to the current research on teacher expectations by pinpointing a specific area of teacher expectations that appears to be particularly significant to the low-income African American high school students at this setting. This finding also builds on Nodding’s (1992) assertion that teacher care is facilitated by dialogue through the connection teachers and students have when participating in conversations where they are equals in association with one another. The students in this study had a difficult time nailing down exactly what it was the teachers did or said that caused these perceptions, however they indicated that it came from interactions with their teachers where the student walked away feeling a less than equal association. Future research studies should endeavor to clarify the nuances of these interactions and pinpoint for educators common teacher actions that convey their low expectations of intelligence and ability to African American high school students. Upon identifying the common teacher actions that convey low expectations of intelligence, research investigations should aim to clarify the relationship between identified teacher actions and African American high school students’ academic achievement.
Additionally supported in the care literature is the importance of teachers demonstrating concern about whether or not their students are academically successful. Identified in the present study as a teacher’s commitment to student success, the findings from this study are supported in the research literature on minority students and teacher support. This investigation furthers the discussion by suggesting that a common response made by low-income African American students when they perceive that their teachers are not committed to their academic success is to stop completing their assignments. Studies support the notion that minority students are more likely to report that their teachers are not concerned about their success in class (Noguera, 2003) and that they are more likely to engage in classes when they perceive that the teacher cares if they learn the material being taught (Cothran & Ennis, 2000). The present investigation advances the current knowledge by suggesting that low-income African American high school students are more likely to disengage in classes when they perceive that the teacher does not care if they learn the material being taught. Beneficial to the field would be studies that seek to identify the tolerance level of minority students, meaning how many times do the students need to be exposed to a teachers’ lack of commitment to their success before they choose to stop completing their work. Additional queries should consider other factors such as age, familial support and educational background, and socioeconomic status.
The results of this study suggest the need for additional discussion about increasing the understanding of students’ sense of belonging and connectedness to the school community. The low-income African American high school students participating in this study had a significantly higher perception of a sense of belonging and connectedness to the building than the white students. This appears to conflict with components of current high school reform efforts that assert that the size of the comprehensive high school prevents students from feeling as if they are part of the school community. In fact, the African American students participating in this study are very well known to the learning community having participated heavily in athletics, committees, choir, and band. Like the clarification on types of care presented in this study, future research should seek to understand students’ perceptions of belonging to the school community in order to establish whether or not there is a connection between these perceptions and their academic achievement.
Implications for Practice
This section draws on relevant literature and highlights teacher behaviors called out by identified themes as a means of recognizing their implications for practice in a caring classroom at Setting High School. Framed within aspects of effective teaching research, emphasis is placed on what the classroom environment looks like when teacher caring is modeled.
Best Practices in Instructional Strategies
Of the themes presented, the most prominent theme of expectation of intelligence has been the most fully explored earlier in this chapter. Guidelines offered by Good and Brophy (1991) for identifying seven steps to achieving teacher goals that emphasize the positive as a way of avoiding the effects of negative expectations were described in detail. Several of these steps stress the importance of re-teaching material, providing additional instruction, and breaking down the tasks in order to ensure student mastery (Good and Brophy, 1991). This is similar to the research on teacher strategies practiced by effective teachers of minority children that serve to negate the influence of low teacher expectations. When synthesizing relevant findings from effective teaching research, Irvine (1990), stresses that effective teachers of minority children do not prejudge or categorize students based solely on behavior, social class, or standardized test scores. These teachers see themselves as coaches who view teaching as the development of intellectual habits through practice, and who concentrate on teaching academic tasks as opposed to the mere coverage of materials (Irvine, 1990). The author surmises:
When their pupils do not initially master the materials, these effective teachers do not ascribe blame to external factors, such as the child’s parents or previous teachers, nor do they impute negative characteristics to the child. They restructure the learning activities, assuming that the child has not yet mastered the materials, not that the child is incapable or unwilling to learn. (Irvine, 1990, p. 94)
This necessary emphasis on student mastery via the restructuring of learning activities, re-teaching in a different way, or by the breaking down of a task, serves to provide guidance when determining the implications for practice within a caring classroom. Effective instructional strategies and the subsequent learning that is achieved as a result of utilizing these strategies should be at the core of any discussion on a caring classroom environment. Teachers should therefore be made aware of the most effective instructional strategies and be held responsible for utilizing these strategies with their students as a means of achieving mastery. The connection to having high expectations for students, while not direct, seems logical. When a student consistently observes their teachers working hard to re-teach them in a different way and to restructure the learning activities to meet their learning needs, they might begin to believe that the teacher must think they have the ability to complete the work or they wouldn’t be trying so hard to make sure they understand it.
The second theme identified, the teachers’ commitment to student success is also pertinent to this discussion. All three of the components of teachers’ commitment to students success, their efforts to ensure that the students understand their schoolwork, teacher feedback, and teacher responsiveness, can be operationalized in a caring classroom via teachers placing an emphasis on re-teaching to mastery and by the utilization of a variety of effective instructional strategies. The implications for practice are evident in the research on effective instructional strategies that affect student achievement.
In his synthesis of 35 years of research on effective schools, Robert Marzano (2003) identifies the top nine categories of instructional strategies that affect student achievement as:
1. Identifying similarities and differences.
2. Summarizing and note taking.
3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition.
4. Homework and practice.
5. Nonlinguistic representations.
6. Cooperative Learning.
7. Setting objectives and providing feedback.
8. Generating and testing hypotheses.
9. Questions, cues, and advance organizers. (2003, p. 80)
Teachers should utilize all nine of these strategies as a means of re-teaching and restructuring learning activities with the goal of student mastery in order to create a caring classroom environment.
Three of the strategies from Marzano (2003) concentrate on the second most prominent theme and contribute to the creation of a caring classroom environment at Setting High School. Reinforcing effort and providing feedback, homework and practice, and setting objectives and providing feedback, all serve to address the three areas identified within the theme of teachers’ commitment to student success at Setting High School. Best practices at Setting High School should emphasize these three categories and focus on the following specific behaviors as presented by Marzano:
Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
1. Recognizing and celebrating progress toward learning goals throughout a unit.
2. Recognizing and reinforcing the importance of effort
3. Recognizing and celebrating progress toward learning goals at the end of the unit
Homework and Practice
1. Providing specific feedback on all assigned homework
2. Assigning homework for the purpose of students practicing skills and procedures that have been the focus of instruction
Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
1. Setting specific learning goals at the beginning of a unit
2. Asking students to set their own learning goals at the beginning of a unit
3. Providing feedback on learning goals throughout the unit
4. Asking students to keep track of their progress on learning goals
5. Providing summative feedback at the end of a unit
6. Asking students to assess themselves at the end of a unit. (Marzano, 2003, p. 82)
Marzano (2003) supplies additional direction when discussing further the third area identified within the component of the teachers’ commitment to student success, the perception that students have of their teachers’ responsiveness towards them. Consisting predominantly of the teachers’ verbally responding to students’ ideas or contributions and the teachers demonstrating indifference to students, Marzano’s (2003) research suggests implications for practice at Setting High School when he discusses equitable and positive teacher behaviors that communicate appropriate levels of cooperation. Such behaviors include:
1. Making eye contact with each student in the room by moving about freely and scanning the room as you speak.
2. Deliberately moving toward and being close to each student.
3. Attributing ideas to students who initiated them (for instance, “Dennis has just added to Mary’s idea by saying that. . .”).
4. Allowing and encouraging all students to be part of class discussions and interactions.
5. Providing appropriate “wait time” for all students, regardless of their past performance or your perception of their abilities. (Marzano, 2003, p. 101)
The research on best practices in instructional strategies offers practitioners at Setting High School tools and approaches to teaching that not only have the potential to increase the academic achievement of all students, but also address the findings from this investigation. By utilizing these instructional strategies with an emphasis on the ones identified as being particularly useful given the present context, educators at Setting High School can begin to create classroom environments where teacher caring is modeled.
Closing Remarks
This researcher embarked on this journey to improve the educational opportunities for African American students at a particular setting. During the process of this investigation, this researcher has moved from the assistant principal position to the role of principal, increasing the probability that the results of the present study will have an impact on the students at Setting High School. It is this researcher’s intention to present the findings from this study to the school improvement team to be considered for inclusion in the 2007-2008 school improvement plan for Setting High School. As noted throughout this study, there are several factors that contribute to the academic achievement gap. The faculty at Setting High School is currently addressing the gap through curriculum development and alignment, academic support for identified subgroups, the review of inequitable policies, familial participation, data analysis, and a multitude of other measures. It is hoped that by affording them the opportunity to expand their efforts to include interventions based on teacher care specific to the findings of this study that all students at Setting High School will benefit. Care, specifically teacher care, and how that care is perceived by and subsequently impacts the African American students at Setting High School may in fact be one of the components school improvement efforts have been lacking.
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APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE
The following is a survey that asks you to report your perceptions about teachers at Setting High School. Please read the directions carefully and return this survey in the enclosed self-addressed envelope before November 15, 2005. Survey respondents will remain anonymous unless they agree to be interviewed at a later date.
Please circle the number on each line which most closely reflects your feelings about the statement.
During the previous school year I have had three or more Strongly Strongly
teachers who. . . Disagree Agree
1 liked to have conversations with me about anything 1 2 3 4 5
2 cared that I understood and learned my schoolwork 1 2 3 4 5
3 talked to me about my personal life and worries 1 2 3 4 5
4 encouraged me to do my best work in school 1 2 3 4 5
5 believed I had the ability to get good grades 1 2 3 4 5
6 gave me honest feedback about my schoolwork 1 2 3 4 5
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7 did not care about me as a person 1 2 3 4 5
8 didn’t care about whether I attended their class or not 1 2 3 4 5
9 didn’t help me when I asked for help with my schoolwork 1 2 3 4 5
10 didn’t respect my ideas and contributions to their class 1 2 3 4 5
11 were not willing to spend time with me 1 2 3 4 5
12 showed no interest in my life outside of school 1 2 3 4 5
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During the previous school year I felt….
13 I didn’t develop a positive relationship with a teacher 1 2 3 4 5
14 I wasn’t connected to the school 1 2 3 4 5
15 like I didn’t belong at school 1 2 3 4 5
16 like no adult cared whether or not I was there 1 2 3 4 5
Please check one
17 I would be interested in meeting for an interview Yes _______ No _______
Thank you very much for participating in this survey!
APPENDIX B
INTERVIEW GUIDE
Interview Guide
Opening Statement – low achieving student
As you know, you recently completed a questionnaire about your perceptions of your teachers. I am interested in the much larger issue of improving the school so that students can get better grades and do well in school. It appears from your records that you may be having difficulties getting some good grades and I would like to talk with you about what could be causing you to not be as successful as you might wish to be. We can discuss anything that is making it difficult for you to get good grades such as your friends, the things you are learning, your teachers, homework, your personality and style, your life at home, your job, study habits, types of classes you take, ….anything that comes to mind that you believe influences your school performance.
Opening Statement – high achieving student
As you know, you recently completed a questionnaire about your perceptions of your teachers. I am interested in the much larger issue of improving the school so that students can get better grades and do well in school. It appears from your records that you are successful in school and I would like to talk with you about what it is that has helped you to get good grades. We can discuss anything that you feel is helping you be successful such as your friends, the things you are learning, your teachers, homework, your personality and style, your life at home, your job, study habits, types of classes you take, ….anything that comes to mind that you believe influences your school performance.
APPENDIX C
SAMPLE NOTE CARDS
Sample Note Cards
[pic]
APPENDIX D
WORKING PRODUCTS
Working Product 1
[pic]
Working Product 2
Understood Work Favorites Feedback
Lindsey 5 of p1 Lindsey 6, 19 (attn) Lindsey 9
Jillian 2-4, 6, 9, 17 Billy 20-24, 19 Jillian 13-14
Nick 2, 4 _____________ Nick 4
Billy 1, 8-9, 14-16 Michael 4-6 Billy 14-16
_______________ ____________
Grace 2-3, 5 Lee 5
Mary 3-4 Michael 4
Sylvia 7-8, 10 Lisa 5
_______________ Marilyn 4
Lee 1, 6-7 Grace 4
Michael 2
Lisa 1-6
Marilyn 2-4, 7
Jeannette 2
Respond/Blown Off Student Response Kids Don’t Care
Lindsey 17, 19, 5 of p2 Lindsey 18 Lindsey 14
Jillian 16 Jillian 3-4, 19 Nick 2
Grace 5-6 Grace 5 Mary 5, 10-11
_______________ Sylvia 11 Sylvia 14, 16
Michael 7 ______________ _____________
Lisa 3-4 Lee 4
Michael 1,3 Marilyn 4
Jeannette 12
Concern about Welfare Here for Money Connection
Jillian 11 Sylvia 4 Michael 15
Michael 4,12 Sylvia 5
APPENDIX E
SCORING TEMPLATE
Scoring Template
1 _____ Student Number __________
2 _____ Race __________
3 _____ Gender __________
4 _____ GPA __________
5 _____ __________
6 _____ Grade __________
__________________ Sped __________
Subtotal
7 _____ Person Total _______________
8 _____ Student Total _______________
9 _____ Building Total _______________
10 _____
11 _____
12 _____ Overall Care _______________
13 _____
14 _____
15 _____
16 _____
__________________
Subtotal
APPENDIX F
CONSENT FORMS
Student Assent for Interview
[pic]
Parent Consent for Interview
[pic]
APPENDIX G
LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING
Department of Educational Organization and Leadership
University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign
333 Education Building
13105.6 th Street
Champaign, Illinois 61820
Letter of Understanding
This is a letter of understanding between ________________________ and Laura Taylor. _________________________ has been a participant of a study being conducted by Laura Taylor through the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
If at anytime in the future _____________________, the parent of _______________________ and/or Laura Taylor believe that there is a situation where there is a conflict of interest with respect to Laura Taylor's role as assistant principal of Setting High School, Laura Taylor will dismiss herself from the situation and another administrator will be assigned. Examples of a possible conflict of interest might be but are not limited to disciplinary and grade appeals.
I am at least 10 years old. I understand and agree to the terms of this agreement. I have been given a copy of this form.
Student's Printed Name Parent's Printed Name
Student's Signature Parent's Signature
Date Date
Mrs. Taylor's Signature and Date
APPENDIX H
CONTACT INFORMATION
Researcher Contact Information
Laura J. Taylor
2407 Lakewood Drive
Champaign, Il 61822
lbtaylor@
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Laura Jill Taylor was born in Plainview, New York, on May 12, 1967. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990 with a degree in photography from the College of Fine Arts. In 1993, she completed a Master of Science in Education from the University of Miami and taught special education in the Miami-Dade public school system for five years. Upon relocating to Champaign, Illinois, Taylor taught special education for five years in an alternative high school for the Champaign Unit 4 School District. In 2003, she became assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Urbana High School and held the position for three years. Taylor was promoted to principal of Urbana High School in 2006 and plans to continue in this position following the completion of her Ed. D.
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