Supporting Black Students in Brown Contexts.

• In Event: Examining the Bright Spots: Successful Strategies for Promoting Black Student Success in K–12 Schools

Abstract

Purpose. Since the 1980s, the proportion of Black students attending schools in Los Angeles County has significantly decreased while the proportion of Latinx students has substantially increased (Johnson et. al, 2021). Simultaneously, as a result of these demographic shifts, and intensifying school segregation in Los Angeles County, Black students are often a demographic minority in schools with large Latinx populations (Orfield et. al, 2011). This paper highlights the experiences of Black students in one particular high school in Los Angeles County that attend schools identified as having exceptional outcomes for Black students in predominantly Latinx schools.

Theoretical Framework. This paper draws on critical race theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate 1995) as a frame to situate the utility of race in the context of learning for Black students. By highlighting the uniqueness of race for Black students in predominately Latinx schools, the study sought to examine how race mattered, why it mattered in these contexts, and the manner in which school leadership addressed the racial realties to offer Black youth opportunities to succeed given their minorized status.


Methods. This study used qualitative, case study methods to examine the racialized experiences of Black students in predominantly Latinx schools, with a focus on identifying successful strategies used to support Black students in such context. A total of 25 students, 3 teachers, and 5 administrators participated in focus group interviews.

Findings. Initial findings suggest the importance of the presence of Black administrators on such campuses who were explicitly concerned with the needs of Black students. Moreover, numerous teachers identified the actions of key Black administrators to intentionally encourage teachers to implement culturally responsive pedagogy, as well as to educate themselves about their implicit biases, as being pivotal to the school’s ability to achieve successful outcomes for Black students. In such contexts, the educational concerns of English Second Language students often predominated the unique needs of Black students. An explicit intentionality was central for administrators to situate the needs of Black students as a school priority.

Significance As Black and Latinx students with distinct educational needs increasingly attend the same schools due to demographic changes and shifting patterns of school segregation, it is imperative for researchers to develop an understanding of the unique racialized experiences of Black students in order to provide targeted support. In contexts where marginalized group members are a minority amongst minorities, such targeted support is critical to the well-being of the entire school community.

References

Johnson, Jr., S.L., Bishop, J.P., Howard, T.C., James, A., Rivera, E., Noguera, P.A. (2021). Beyond the
Schoolhouse, Digging Deeper: COVID-19 & Reopening Schools for Black Students in Los Angeles. Center for the Transformation of Schools,
School of Education & Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.

Ladson-Billings, G. & Tate, W. (1995). Toward a theory of critical race theory. Teacher College Record
97(1) 47-68

Orfield, G., Siegel-Hawley, G., Kucsera, J. (2011). Divided we fail: Segregated and unequal schools in
the Southland. Civil Rights Project of UCLA. Los Angeles, CA.

Author

• Tyrone C. Howard, University of California - Los Angeles