Using Multiple Modalities to Detrack Racially Diverse Middle Schools

• In Event: 67.064 - New Perspectives on Tracking and Detracking From Stakeholders in Schools

Abstract

This ethnographic study explored African American student and parent voices in a racially diverse middle school, asking, How do African American parents and students’ perceptions of academic placement illuminate mechanisms maintaining racialized tracks? What intervention components will successfully detracking racially diverse schools require? Interviews with 38 students and 26 parents, analyzed through the lens of the Black habitus using coding cycles, revealed perceptions influencing students’ academic choices: education and grades highly valued; little sense of belonging in school; insecurity in community, school, and advanced classes; self-evaluation as “not smart enough”. Analysis of factors grounding perceptions suggests interventions for successful detracking: investment in communities; representation and professional development for school personnel; academic and non-cognitive student supports; and better communication with families.

Author

• Richard Lofton, Johns Hopkins University