This case study describes how culturally relevant pedagogy can be used in disciplinary rigorous ways in an urban middle school history classroom. The focus is on a unit about the Johnstown Flood of 1889, which provided a setting for teaching about the event as well as the historical thinking practices of contextualizing, sourcing, and…

This qualitative case study explores the literary/lived interpretations and experiences of middle school girls attending a book club located in an urban public school. We examine how the girls' responses to depictions of racism in the novels read reveal the ways in which they understand and/or experience racism in their own lives? We ground this…

This study investigated how Black middle school girls negotiated an after-school club, with a specific focus on ways of knowing and acting as "ladies." Drawing from Fordham's intersectional analyses of the histories and politics behind her conceptualization of "those loud black girls," we explore and critique the ways in which…

This case study examines how relationships with staff in a GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) pre-college program positively influenced the college-going aspirations of Black ninth-grade students. Critical Race Theory and Possible Selves provide an intersecting analytical framework for understanding the…

This study explored the achievement, engagement, and school climate perceptions of African American males in urban high schools. Hierarchical regression and focus group interviews were used to analyze male sample (n = 114) data from a larger study. Findings suggest that students' perceptions were influenced by having information about and access…

With the expansion of online instruction in K-12 education, how and what is taught in a single course has the potential to affect the learning of thousands of students. Our mixed method study applies a critical lens to examine the extent to which four widely used online high school courses are culturally relevant and responsive. Online lessons…

The purpose of this study was to explain secondary physical education (PE) teachers' positioning regarding teaching English language learners (ELLs) in urban schools. PE teachers may be fearful of looking inward to examine and share their beliefs and values of hidden conscripts of race, ethnicity, class, and languages. This study found that PE…

Standardized testing is a top priority in schools, with conversations around teaching and learning reduced to raising student test scores. Often any other conversations about how schools should serve students are eliminated or pushed to the periphery. The central questions raised here are the following: how are student-teacher relationships…

This study examines how three teachers working at a South Central high school teach critically about race and place. While building on the "spatial turn" in social science, the article draws on Critical Race Spatial Analysis to advance literature at the intersection of race, place, and pedagogy. Additionally, the article utilizes…

This study examines a sample of African American students attending urban middle schools in a Southern city, and considers their perceptions of learning environments within mathematics classrooms. This study concluded that variables like Academic Self-Concept, Mathematics Anxiety, Satisfaction, Involvement, and Academic Aspiration varied…

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is important for academic and social success, yet responsive SEL for Black youth remains underexamined. The current study analyzed focus groups to investigate how Black boys (N = 10) in an urban middle school think about emotion and its regulation. Results revealed that participants negotiate tension between emotion…

This study examines two equity-elaborated social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies among Black adolescents: coping responses to race-related stress at school (self-management) and racial identity (self-awareness), and their relation to school adjustment (school belonging, school valuing, cognitive strategy use). The sample included 151…

Drawing from a larger study of teacher empathy, this article offers a critical race analysis of three teachers' "dispositions" to discern (a) their social and emotional competencies (SEC) and (b) evidence of "transformative" social and emotional learning (SEL). Data sources include one-on-one teacher interviews, focus groups,…

The myth of "tough love" leadership emerges in cultural narratives as a superior approach to improving students' educational opportunities in urban schools facing challenging circumstances. This model, however, has not been conceptualized, and consequently, empirical research about it is lacking. We formulated a typology of tough love…

This article examined academically and athletically motivated Black male students who play high school sports. In-depth interviews and observations illuminated their experiences, beliefs, and aspirations in their Chicago neighborhood and school context. The notion of Place and Critical Race Theory framed their experiences. Yosso's communities of…