HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN, MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS LEARN AND ENACT A RACISM RESISTANT CRITICAL RACE ACHIEVEMENT IDEOLOGY IN THEIR ADOLESCENTS IN GIFTED AND AP CLASSES by TRACEY S. FISHER (Under the Direction of Talmadge C. Guy) ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine African American, middle class parents’ facilitation of an academic achievement ideology that is racism-resistant in their adolescent offspring in AP and Gifted Education classrooms. Three research questions guided the study: (1) how do African American, middle class parents come to acquire or learn an achievement ideology that is resistant to racism? (2) how do African American, middle class parents of adolescents enact an achievement ideology with them that resists racism? (3) what are the consequences or results of African American, middle class parents enacting an achievement ideology with their adolescents that is resistant to racism? The method used to gather data in this qualitative study was the person-to-person, semi-structured interview. A modified version of the Seidman (2013) interview method captured rich, narrative data. A stratified purposeful sample of potential parent participants was accessed at one southeastern high school. Potential parent participants were identified through their African American adolescent children who had earned above average grades, were in AP and gifted classes, and earned high AP national test scores. Participation was voluntary. Additional screening criteria were the parents’ college experience and income level. Major themes are: (a) understand that education impacts life quality (b) expect to work twice as hard to get half as far as Whites (c) use available resources to support learning (d) engage in high expectation conversations at home (e) network to enhance educational, racial and social class experiences. Conclusions are that the African American parents in this study intentionally pass on racially and culturally relevant knowledge to their adolescents about academic achievement resisting racism and compel them to be in, excel in, and understand the benefits of, AP and gifted. The parents in this study also reported that their adolescents developed friendships across racial lines in AP and gifted which is a consequence of enacting a racism resistant achievement ideology that includes enhancing their adolescents’ social class connections. INDEX WORDS: Adult learning, African American, Black, middle class parent engagement, parent involvement, advanced placement (AP), adolescent achievement, gifted education, achievement ideology, adult education, critical race achievement ideology HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN, MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS LEARN AND ENACT A RACISM RESISTANT CRITICAL RACE ACHIEVEMENT IDEOLOGY IN THEIR ADOLESCENTS IN GIFTED AND AP CLASSES by TRACEY S. FISHER B.S., Howard University, 1981 M. Ed., The University of Georgia 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2015 © 2015 Tracey S. Fisher All Rights Reserved HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN, MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS LEARN AND ENACT A RACISM RESISTANT CRITICAL RACE ACHIEVEMENT IDEOLOGY IN THEIR ADOLESCENTS IN GIFTED AND AP CLASSES by TRACEY S. FISHER (Under the Direction of Talmadge C. Guy) Major Professor: Talmadge C. Guy Committee: Juanita Johnson Bailey Laura L. Bierema Cheryl Fields-Smith Electronic Version Approved: Julie Coffield Interim Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2015 iv DEDICATION First, I give thanks to God for leading me through this very challenging and demanding journey. God created me and provided a deep well from which to draw strength of will, tenacity, and fortitude to see this through. Second, I dedicate this dissertation to my loving and brilliant parents who are the foundation of my life. Their love and support have always carried me. My dear mother, Shirley Herbert Simmons, there is no mother greater. Professionally, until your retirement, you were a passionate, innovative and creative educator who touched the lives of thousands of children. You are a humanitarian with a loving and giving heart, and you are a role model beyond measure. My dear father, Halevy Hercules Simmons, your audacious, bodacious zest for life, keen wisdom and certified architectural genius, will always sustain me, even as you look down from your place in heaven. I truly love both of you. Third, I dedicate this dissertation to my extraordinarily remarkable husband, Terence Brooks Fisher. Without you I would not have prevailed. Your kindness, patience, strength, good humor, and positive soul, I do not deserve. Your exceptionally generous spirit and willingness to give me time and space to accomplish this endeavor will never be forgotten. I am devoted to you. You are truly my best friend, protector, and hero. I will always love you. v Fourth, I dedicate this dissertation to my two children, Terence II and Taylor. I am incredibly blessed to have you. You inspire great joy and tremendous pride in my heart each day. Thank you for lighting up my life forever. You are love. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many who have helped to support making this dissertation a reality. Without all of you I would not have prevailed. I too often could not see what you wanted or expected me to do, but ultimately something significant would be revealed to help to sustain me. Thank you very much. I acknowledge my major professor, Dr. Talmadge Guy. I wholeheartedly believe that you are “grace” personified. You have treated me, the spitfire, with compassion and care. I have learned so much from you in this journey. The dissertation quality would not have been what it is without you. The time spent discussing and mulling over what I was discovering along the way was priceless. No one else could have helped me elicit the deep level of understanding of this process as you. Thank you very much. I acknowledge the other members of my doctoral committee – Dr. Juanita Johnson Bailey, Dr. Laura Bierema and Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith. All of you helped to inspire different parts of what is captured in this study. You each pushed me to think and to change and to grow. Thank you so much for dedicating your time and energy to this study. I acknowledge the eight parents who took part in this study who entrusted their experiences to me, and gave me such profound insight into what strong, determined, focused parenting is all about. Your stories, once missing from the literature, can now be heard. I know that you want me to also write a book on even more that we could have vii conversed about! You are all such dedicated and wonderful parents. This dissertation is a part of your legacy of support of your children. Thank you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 3 Background to the Problem ........................................................................ 6 Conceptualizing Middle Class Status for African Americans...................... 9 African American Parents of Academic Achievers ................................... 11 Theoretical Underpinnings of the Study ................................................... 12 Problem Statement ................................................................................... 17 Purpose Statement and Research Questions .............................................. 20 Study Significance ................................................................................... 22 Chapter Summary .................................................................................... 27 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................................... 30 Cultural Ideology in Support of Academic Achievement .......................... 32 Parent Aspirations and Academic Achievement of Children ..................... 36 African American Parent Aspirations and Academic Achievement of Children .............................................................................................. 38 African American Parent Engagement and Achievement Dissertations .... 43 ix African American Parent Engagement and Achievement Ideology ........... 46 Parenting and Homeplace ......................................................................... 56 Transformative Learning Theory and Skin Color Privilege ....................... 57 White Privilege and Family-Relevant Research ........................................ 61 African American, Middle Class and Family-Relevant Research .............. 65 Chapter Summary .................................................................................... 68 3 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 70 Design of the Study .................................................................................. 70 Qualitative Inquiry ................................................................................... 71 Interview Methods ................................................................................... 72 Research Design .....................................................................................