"Playing the Numbers Game": High School Students' Attitudes Toward (and Resistance to) Racial Equity Reform in Academic Placement

• In Event: 73.060 - Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: 73.060-4 - Exploration of Educational Experiences of Black Learners

Abstract

Educators and critics have highlighted the limited inclusion of students’ perspectives and voices in education policy and reform. In this mixed methods study, I analyze high school students’ attitudes toward academic placement in one particular school district. Students’ attitudes were captured on the 2009 district-wide climate survey, which was administered while the school district was under a court-monitored equity consent decree to address racial disparities in areas such as discipline and academic placement, and through individual interviews conducted spring 2013, after the consent decree was terminated. Findings reveal students have positive attitudes toward academic placement and do not perceive racial disparities in placement warrant remedy from school district officials. Critical race theory is used to interpret and discuss their attitudes.

Authors

• Ivory Marcel Berry, Wright State University

• Cecilia Elizabeth Suarez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign