Pushing/Pulling Out Wealthy Students: The Community Cultural Wealth of High School “Dropouts”

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Studying Privilege and Oppression Across Educational Systems

Abstract

This paper assesses the existence of Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) amongst Students of Color who leave high school before graduating, and explores how this wealth is articulated, cultivated and employed through their aspirations and practices. The analysis draws from testimonio interviews with 20 young adults from rural, urban, and suburban northern California communities. Preliminary findings suggest that the use of “dropout” to describe students who leave school before graduating both shifts blame to the victim and masks the wealth of insight and experiences these youth contribute to their families, communities, and society. This re-framing has important implications for programs and policy development intended to support school persistence and re-entry.

Authors

• Rebeca Burciaga, San José State University

• Nancy Erbstein, University of California - Davis