ISBN 2164-6406 http://journals.uncc.edu/urbaned http://thecollaborative.uncc.edu Volume 3 Number 1 March 2015 Urban Education Research and Policy AAnnuals Peer-Reviewed Online Graduate Student Journal Journal Articles Research Briefs Policy Briefs Book Reviews Executive Editor Chance W. Lewis, Ph.D. Editor Tempestt R. Adams Co-Editor Katie E. Brown Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals A Peer-Reviewed Online Graduate Student Journal Table of Contents ISBN 2164-6406 http://journals.uncc.edu/urbaned Foreword……………………………..…………………………………………………………… p. 3 http://thecollaborative.uncc.edu sad Commentary………………………………………………………….…………………………. p. 6 Volume 3 sdkfj Number 1 Negotiating Identity: Black Female Identity Construction in a Predominantly-White Suburban Context …………… p. 9 March 2015 asdkh Ethics of Exemplary Black Educators: Implications for Teacher Education and the Preparation of Prospective Black Teachers……………………………….………………………….. p. 24 dfkj The Analysis of Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of English Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms………………………………………………. p. 39 Confessions of a Light Skinned Black Girl: An Academic Misfit….… p. 52 asdjh The 21st Century Color Line: Assessing the Economic and Social Impact of Urbanization and School Discipline……………… p. 63 skil Rethinking Parental Involvement: A Critical Review of the Journal Articles Literature………………………………………………………………………………………… p. 77 sdkfj Call for Manuscripts…………………………………………………………………… p. 91 Research Briefs sdkfj Policy Briefs Book Reviews Executive Editor Chance W. Lewis, Ph.D. Editor Tempestt R. Adams Co-Editor Katie E. Brown Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals vol. 3(1), p. 3 Education for All: A Promise Yet Deferred A Foreword Tempestt R. Adams The University of North Carolina at Charlotte he 2014-2015 school year marked the articles that compose this issue discuss the first year that majority of the topics of teacher preparation, the role of T students in America’s public race and racism in schools, marginality, and schools were non-White (Klein, 2014). parental involvement. Combined, the Despite the shifting demographics, there articles tackle pertinent issues that are still remains a persistent struggle to ensure consistently faced in urban schools and that all students receive a quality education environments. In a solution-oriented and this problem is even more pervasive for fashion, the authors have contributed students of color (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, recommendations towards improvement of 2011). The projections for the demographic education. shift of the United States population are In the first article, Russell examines well known yet the teacher population the experiences of Black teenage girls in remains severely mismatched. Irvine (1991) predominately-White suburban explains that a lack of “cultural neighborhoods. Utilizing the Black feminist synchronization” between teachers and intersectionality framework, the author adds students can negatively impact student to the literature on the lived experiences of success. As a result, much focus has been Black girls in academic contexts, the given to the need to improve teacher navigation of their identities, and the education and training programs. More significant impact that race and racism has specifically, research literature continuously on their academic and social experiences. demands pre-service teachers must be able The second article by Acosta provides to understand and employ culturally implications for teacher education and the responsive pedagogy to effectively reach need to be sure that prospective African and teach diverse learners. American teachers are not being As Urban Education Research and marginalized in teacher education Policy Annuals presents its third volume, programs. She argues that Black educators Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals vol. 3(1), p. 4 employ a complex pedagogy that is for and encourages the opposition of culturally influenced and that examining dominant and oppressive ideologies. how successful Black educators define their In the fifth article, Watson, practice could enable teacher educators to Robinson, Hollis and Talley-Matthews utilize be able to assist, engage and support DuBois’ notion of the “color line” and African American pre-service teachers. This argues that it persists even today in the 21st research supports the need to understand century. Through a comprehensive review what it means to teach from culturally the authors utilize data to demonstrate centered perspectives and how examining evidence of the color line on both social effective pedagogy for African American and economic levels. Lastly, the authors children can inform the preparation of address the impacts of urbanization, school African American teachers. discipline, and cultural mismatch in The third article by Ferguson and schools. The last article by Johnson Boudreaux, delivers data on pre-service examines existing literature on parental teachers’ attitudes toward English language involvement in urban schools. His research learners in mainstream classrooms. While reviews the common lenses through which survey data reveals that this sample parental involvement in schools is most population of pre-service teachers has often assessed. Recommendations are positive dispositions towards ELL students, provided on how schools can approach and the authors did find evidence of a lack of improve parental involvement. confidence in teacher abilities and It is my desire that the instructional practices needed to reach and amalgamation of research presented here teach this population of students. The can assist all education stakeholders as we authors argue for training and relevant continue our endeavor to ensure equitable coursework to be incorporated into teacher education for all. education programs to reinforce and sustain such positive beliefs about English Tempestt R. Adams language learners in the classroom. Editor In the fourth article, Jordan delivers a unique performance piece that confronts the “inner eye of the dominant world”. The concept of the “inner eye” can be understood as what others see when they look at you even though these thoughts and feelings may never be verbalized. The author’s prose illuminates the power that curriculum in schools can have if it allows Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals vol. 3(1), p. 5 References Brown-Jeffy, S., & Cooper, J. E. (2012). Toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant pedagogy: An overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 65-84. Retrieved from http://www.teqjournal.org. Irvine, J. J. (1991). Black students and school failure: Policies, practices, and prescriptions. New York, NY: Greenwood Press. Klein, R. (2014, September 3). A majority of students entering school this year are minorities, but most teachers are still White. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/03/ student-teacher- demographics_n_5738888.html. Tempestt R. Adams is a doctoral student in the Curriculum & Instruction, Urban Education program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Originally from Enfield, North Carolina, she received her BS in Business and Marketing Education from North Carolina State University and her Master of Business Administration from Pfeiffer University. She spent five years in the classroom as a Business and Marketing teacher and club advisor at the high school level in Wake County. She serves as a doctoral fellow with the Urban Education Collaborative and Teaching Assistant in the College of Education. Her research interests include: early college high schools, teacher preparation, and college and career readiness. Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals vol. 3(1), p. 6 On the Margins: LGBTQ Youth in American Public Schools A Commentary Katie E. Brown The University of North Carolina at Charlotte he authors featured in this volume of approximately five percent of the American Urban Education Research and middle and high school population, or one T Policy Annuals address the needs million students (Cianciotto & Cahill, 2012). and perspectives of populations who are Given the historic marginalization often marginalized by public schools: and discrimination LGBTQ individuals have students and teachers of color, English faced in the United States, it is perhaps not language learners, and parents in urban surprising that these patterns of exclusion communities. These authors shed light on are mirrored in schools. Homosexuality was the differential treatment that members of classified as a mental illness by the these groups often receive in public school American Psychological Association until settings and propose ways that educators 1973, and was a criminal offense in many can better serve these populations. In so states until the Supreme Court ruled anti- doing, the authors in this volume are sodomy laws unconstitutional in 2003 contributing to an extensive body of (Bryant, 2008). Recent court rulings have literature that describes and prescribes made marriage equality more widespread education for low-income students, (American Civil Liberties Union, n.d.), but students of color, and urban students and LGBTQ people continue to face families. discrimination in the workplace: no federal In recent years, scholarship has law currently exists to protect LGBTQ emerged to suggest the marginalization of individuals from discrimination (Human another group of students in American Rights Campaign, 2014), and LGBTQ public schools: