"I'm Not Really Good at Being Smart": Constructing Academic Ability in a Gentrifying Middle School

• In Event: Struggling for Equity: A New Wave of Research on How Schools Respond to Gentrification

Abstract

Objectives
Surprisingly, although questions of classroom practice are central to the goal of educational equity, they have rarely been studied by researchers in gentrifying schools (Posey-Maddox, Kimelberg, & Cucchiara, 2014; Wells et al., 2016). This ethnographic case study explores how teachers in a gentrifying New York City middle school draw from specific contextual elements (such as changes in school demographics) to negotiate social meaning (such as how they think about students’ skills and abilities), with important implications for their professional practice (such as how they award public praise for student achievement or communicate with students’ families).

Theoretical Framework
Although a large body of literature documents the academic and social benefits of diverse schools and classrooms, there are risks inherent in racial and socioeconomic diversity (Abu El-Haj & Rubin, 2009; Freidus & Noguera, 2017). Quite unintentionally, teachers may develop expectations of their students based in ideological, “common sense” understandings of the relationship between race, class, and intelligence that advantage students from white and wealthy families “under the guise of their ‘natural’ abilities, not their social location” (Oakes, Wells, Jones, & Datnow, 1997, p. ). These differentiated expectations often contribute to differential treatment within the classroom, affecting ability grouping, the allocation of teacher time and attention, and the development of nurturing student-teacher relationships (Rist, 2000; Weinstein, 2002).

Methods and Data
Using tools from interpretive (Mehan, 1992) and critical (Lipman, 2009; Weis & Fine, 2012) qualitative research, I examine classrooms as parts of a “larger, interconnected social system” in which local context is an integral part of the case (Wells et al., p. 20). Over the course of the 2016-17 academic year, I followed one sixth-grade cohort in a gentrifying New York City middle school for six to ten hours each week in formal and informal settings, including classrooms, hallways, fire drills, and staff meetings. I supplemented my observations with semi-structured interviews with teachers, students, and parents/guardians. Drawing from the literature on racially and socioeconomically diverse classrooms (Lewis, 2003; Metz, 1979; Noguera & Wing, 2006; Rist, 2000; Rubin, 2003), I am particularly attentive to academic, socioeconomic, and racial labeling and sorting practices used by teachers and students throughout my data collection and iterative coding process.

Results and Significance
I find that sixth-grade teachers grappled quite consciously with racialized disparities in academic achievement among their students, struggling to reconcile these patterns with their commitments to school integration. Teachers adapted their classroom practice based on varying explanations of why White, middle-class students outperformed their peers, including differences among students’ motivation, academic self-concept, parental resources, and prior educational experience. In some cases, teachers’ attempts to “even the playing field” were quite successful, but at other times their efforts backfired. Students interpreted some instructional decisions made in the name of supporting struggling learners, such as praising academic growth or offering differentiated assessments, as signals of low academic expectations. The unintended consequences of these classroom practices raise complicated questions for teachers and administrators designing curriculum, instruction, and professional development in gentrifying schools.

Author

• Alexandra Freidus, New York University