Yes We Can! Shifting Paradigms and Utilizing Student-Centered Media in College Access Reform

• In Event: Increasing College-Going Opportunities for Black and Latino Youth

Abstract

I. Overview

Even as the average high school graduation rate climbs to a three-decade high of 80 percent, Black and Latina/o youth continue to enroll in college in limited numbers (NCES, 2013), highlighting the urgency with which educational approaches are needed to support students in navigating the PreK-16 pipeline. We advocate for an approach that brings together all stakeholders in a school community to develop a culturally relevant, school-wide, college-going culture, building upon youth’s assets to support their college readiness and access.

II. Literature Review

In seeking to improve the educational experiences of Black and Latino youth, we draw upon the work of a number of scholars who study culturally relevant educational approaches to support youth’s college-going identities through varied notions of academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness (Gay, 2010; Howard, 2003; Knight & Marciano, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 2001).

III. Methodology

Our study is part of a larger initiative aimed at increasing college readiness of Black and Latino male students in an urban school district. We developed a series of professional development workshops we called the Black and Latino Male Professional Development Initiative (BLMPDI) with a purposeful sample of 30 teachers, counselors, administrators and support staff from 14 schools who were identified by the school district as closing the achievement gap for Black and Latino male students.

We designed and facilitated the BLPMDI drawing upon the findings from a four-year ethnographic study of the college-going processes of Black and Latino/a working class youth attending a New York City high school (Knight & Marciano, 2013). The BLMPDI sessions focused on participants’ understandings of creating a culturally relevant, school-wide, college-going culture. Data included observations of the PDs, written artifacts created by participants, and focus group interviews. We analyzed data for categories, patterns, and themes (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007) related to teacher’s experiences and perspectives about college readiness and access for Black and Latino male students.

IV. Preliminary Findings and Significance

One tension involved the negotiation of teachers’ assumptions, beliefs, and knowledge about students of color. We focus our findings on educators’ reflections of culturally relevant pedagogical practices using student centered media clips to support youth’s college readiness. A central issue concerning equity and social justice that we focused educators’ attention on was understanding and challenging prevailing deficit views of youth of color, especially those who have been deemed not college bound nor college ready, labels that many educators acknowledged were prevalent in their schools.

Educators highlighted their desires for students to engage active constructions of youth as critical of their schooling experiences. In so doing, they point to opportunities for facilitating youth’s successful negotiation of standardized curriculum within the context of culturally relevant pedagogical approaches, further developing youth’s critical consciousness and supporting their college going identities. Pedagogical and curricular projects provide opportunities for educators to facilitate assets-based perspectives of Black and Latino male students which are essential in supporting the development of a culturally relevant, school-wide, college-going culture.

Authors

• Michelle G. Knight-Manuel, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Joanne E. Marciano, Michigan State University