City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2009 The Gatekeeping Behind Meritocracy: Voices of NYC High School Students Arlene Melody Garcia The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2236 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE GATEKEEPING BEHIND MERITOCRACY: VOICES OF NYC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS by Arlene Melody Garcia A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2009 © 2009 ARLENE M. GARCIA All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 11/21/08 Richard Curtis Date Chair of Examining Committee 11/21/08 Karen Terry Date Executive Officer Richard Curtis Barry Spunt Larry Sullivan Supervision Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract THE GATEKEEPING BEHIND MERITOCRACY: VOICES OF NYC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS by Arlene Garcia Adviser: Professor Ric Curtis Survey and focus group sampling of students in high achieving schools compared to lower achieving schools were used to examine why there are fewer black men graduating from high schools in New York City as well as high schools around the country compared to other groups of students. Race is disaggregated in order to look at the difference in achievement rates for African American, black Hispanic, African, and Afro-Caribbean men. The findings support the contention that foreign-born blacks do better academically than native blacks. Focus groups consist of black males, females, and staff at six of the 12 schools; field notes are included for the other five. The research includes 23 faculty members, and 155 participants with quantitative data on 151 student participants, largely black males. Schools were sampled across four typologies: alternative, empowerment, private, and public to compare high achieving and low achieving schools. The findings uncover some of the reasons as to why fewer black males were graduating from high school. Some of the reasons include weak family, school, and community networks, and low skill levels. Successful black males report strong familial and school community networks, positive school culture that encourages learning, and high teacher iv expectation. Students report violent schools, teachers who do not make learning relevant, and apathetic teachers and staff hinder learning. The findings intend to inform the development of programs, designed to address the needs of black male students who attend John Jay, other City University of New York colleges, and schools across the country. Given the interest in growing incarceration rates and penal policy, this research explores proactive measures for dealing with at risk youth, e.g. creating tutoring and mentoring programs, recruiting and retaining more teachers and administrators who represent the student body, providing more funding for NCLB, diverting first time offenders, and expanding breakfast and lunch programs. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express gratitude to my committee members, Larry Sullivan, Barry Spunt, and Ric Curtis, for their supervision during this research. I am also forever thankful to God for spiritual guidance and to my family for their encouragement throughout my educational career. I am grateful to Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, Elliot Dawes who is the Director of the Black Male Initiative (BMI), President Jeremy Travis of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the New York City Council for helping to make this research possible and to everyone who participated in the focus groups in New York City high schools. Recognition is extended to the doctoral program at John Jay College, CUNY, and Douglas Thompkins for allowing me to work on this project and Ric Curtis for agreeing to mentor me. I would also like to acknowledge the support received and ideas interchanged from my research partner, Andre Spynda. Lastly, this research is dedicated to black males across the nation and to the people who work with at risk youth. This study is a call to action for policymakers throughout the country. vi PREFACE As a history teacher in a public school district in Westchester County for the past eight years, a woman of color, and social scientist, I wear multiple hats in my approach to accessing and offering practical solutions to the plight of black males in New York City High Schools. In this study, I seek to evaluate what contextual variables attribute to successful versus unsuccessful black males in New York City High Schools. As a black woman first, this topic is very near and dear to my heart. I have witnessed many black males, some family members and some friends become involved in the criminal justice system. I have also encountered racism, as a black, Hispanic woman from various institutional means, e.g. employment, primary and secondary schooling. I will never forget the time when a young Caucasian boy in Kindergarten called me the “N” word. Due to living in America, where race impacts lived experiences, I had a keen sense of color at such a young age. Thus, I reported the incident to the school’s only African American teacher on recess duty. Her response, although a bit striking but most likely coming from lived experiences, to the young man was: “That’s not nice, apologize. Would you like if she called you a cr**ker?” I faintly remember the young boy saying, “No and sorry.” I was so hurt by this ordeal. I hurried home once school was finished to tell my mother. She was shocked by the teacher’s reply, but made it a teachable moment by explaining to my young, tender ears- race relations. She tried her best to protect and shield me, but also kept it real by telling me her various experiences. In doing this, she explained that adversity made people stronger and basically told me that one incident was one of many more to come. She taught me to be proud of my heritage and made it her job to teach me positive components of Black History. vii I am very fortunate to have had her do this, for many black students may not have this positive role model or experience at such a young age. She didn’t. My mother grew up extremely poor; her father was an immigrant from Puerto Rico who left the family and her mother a native of North Carolina grew terminally ill when she was just 14 years old. She dropped out of high school in order to work to support herself for she could no longer endure the teasing for having holes in her shoes and wearing an unkempt jacket-not to mention retiring to bed hungry nightly. Her lived experiences were her reality and my source of what life is like for many impoverished children. I was fortunate that my mother and father provided a better life for my younger sisters and me. My father is also from very humble beginnings. He is an immigrant from Belize in Central America, who shares stories of having no indoor plumbing growing up, Furthermore, my upbringing prepared me to compete in this world and gave me an understanding of societal relations, which later encouraged me to teach history. As an educator, I see firsthand the lower rates of achievement and higher suspension and special education classification rates of black children, particularly males (Holzman, 2004). Across the nation, people have been concerned with addressing the racial divide and closing the achievement gap where young men of color continually lag behind. Why do black males in general lag behind their white counterparts? On the surface, some have concluded that black students, particularly black males, appear not to take receiving a high school diploma as seriously as their white or black female peers (Ogbu, 2003). Given the alarming rates of incarceration and high dropout rates, it requires one to delve beneath the surface to examine the causes. Once this is done, it would reveal the many factors at viii work. Using sociological explanations, which include legal socialization and social reproduction theories, this research, seeks to build a theoretical framework to assess the contextual variables, e.g. family involvement, peer pressure, role models, socioeconomic status, and race, racism that attribute to a successful or unsuccessful black male student. This leads me to the social scientist approach on this project. As a social scientist, I will be assessing the plight of young black men by disaggregating race in order to look at the difference in achievement rates for African American, black Hispanic, African, and Afro-Caribbean men. Research supports the contention that foreign-born black men do better academically than native-born blacks (Massey, Mooney, Torres, & Charles, 2007; Ogbu, 2003). Research has also shown that students learn better from people who look like them (Ferguson, 2002). This I can attest to firsthand. On numerous occasions, I encounter students receiving disciplinary referrals in the office who while in my class for the most part are respectful and complete my class work. Upon finding out the behavior issues, I talk to the child, express my shock, and distaste for his or her behavior. More importantly, I explain that he or she needs to be respectful to all teachers or people regardless of like or dislike. This does not mean that all black children are respectful towards me and complete their work, but most, including white children, are respectful and see me as a role model, perhaps due to effectiveness in communicating with them and keeping it real, e.g.