The Color of Success : Race and High-Achieving Urban Youth

Foreword xi Pedro A. Noguera Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii Introduction 1(1) Purpose of this Book 2(1) Structure, Culture, and Agency 2(1) Semantic Conventions 3(1) Research Design 4(1) Organization of the Book 5(2) The Racial Dichotomy and Challenges Confronting Students in American Schools: Toward a Conceptual Framework of Urban School Success 7(13) Issues Associated with Educational Inequality 8(2) Cultural-Ecological Explanations of Minority School Failure 10(2) Complicating the Cultural-Ecological Framework 12(1) School Processes and Minority Achievement 13(2) Voices of High-Achieving Minority Youth 15(1) Confronting Segregation and Stereotypes 16(2) Finding Goodness in Urban Schooling 18(1) Conclusion 19(1) Balkanization in School Organization: Integrated and Segregated School Societies Side-by-Side 20(20) Racial Segregation and Performance 21(1) Baldwin High School as the Case Study Setting 21(1) Why a California High School? 22(1) The General School Climate as Perceived by Teachers and Students 23(2) Low-Achieving Student Perceptions About the General School Pathway 25(1) Violence and the Daily Practice of Going to School 26(3) Small Learning Communities: Career Academies 29(10) Conclusion 39(1) ``Ain't No Thing But a Chicken Wing'': Constructing Black Student Success 40(21) Background on Black Student Achievement 41(2) The Situation at Baldwin High School 43(4) The Academy Experience at Baldwin High School 47(6) A Closer Look at African American Males 53(3) A Closer Look at African American Females 56(3) Conclusion 59(2) ``I Want to Make a Difference'': Forging Optimism Among Latino Students 61(15) Background on Latino School Achievement 61(2) School Opportunity Structure and Racial Perceptions 63(2) Identity Formation Among Latino Students 65(1) Responses of High-Achieving Latino Students 66(6) Creating Optimism Despite Inequality Among Medical Academy Latinos 72(2) Conclusion 74(2) ``We Just Make the Best of What We Have'': Understanding Vietnamese Student Motivation and Success 76(13) Background on Asian American Student Achievement 77(2) Vietnamese-Origin Students at Baldwin High School 79(2) Gender and the Construction of Student Ability 81(1) Academic Identity Groups Among High-Achieving Vietnamese Students 82(1) Understanding the Model Minority Stereotype 83(1) Structuring Competition versus Collaborative Learning 84(2) Benefiting from the Model Minority Typology 86(1) Conclusion 87(2) Social Capital Among Urban Youth: How Interactions with Peers and Teachers Promote Achievement 89(23) Differences in Students' Studying Behavior 92(5) Familial Sources of Social Capital 97(3) Nonfamilial Sources of Social Capital 100(4) Multivariate Results: The Influence of Familial and Nonfamilial Social Capital on Study Habits 104(3) Nonfamilial Processes of Social Capital Within Baldwin High School 107(3) Conclusion 110(2) Conclusion: Implications for Policy and Practice 112(13) Institutional Processes, Social Support Systems, and School Success 112(2) Student Ideology, Institutional Mechanisms, and Social Support Systems 114(3) Summary of Key Findings and Policy Recommendations 117(3) Implications for Further Research 120(1) Policy and Practice Limitations 121(2) Conclusion 123(2) Appendix: On the Subjectivity of the Researcher 125(4) References 129(10) Index 139(9) About the Author 148