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Abstract This study investigates the racial-mathematical identity profiles of Black American adolescents. Survey data were collected in five schools across one U.S. urban school district at two time points (spring 2018 [n = 197] and spring 2019 [n = 210]). Based on extant research regarding psychological response patterns to racialized school stress, we investigated the existence of an identity negotiation pattern in which students were motivated to resist negative stereotypes about Black people by achieving well in mathematics. We conducted a latent profile analysis combining students’ self-beliefs across five indicators: racial centrality, racial public regard, mathematics attainment value, mathematics mastery experiences, and resistance motivation. Three distinct racial-mathematical identity profiles emerged: (1) Mathematics Devalued/Ambivalent, (2) Moderately Math Attained, and (3) Resistors. We found associations between profile membership and students’ gender, negative math emotions, and their receipt of cultural and critical mathematics instruction. We also found an association between the identity profiles and school type (academically selective “magnet” schools vs. open-enrollment neighborhood schools), but not in the direction that might be assumed. Moreover, we found that certain school environment factors (i.e., racial stereotyping and cultural and critical mathematics instruction) were significantly different in racially diverse magnet schools than in the neighborhood schools. Overall, our data reveal the existence of a highly motivated Resistor profile among Black students, that is predicted by cultural and critical mathematics instruction but underrepresented within this district’s selective magnet schools.
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Location, Location, Location? School District, Length of Residence and Attitudes Toward Diversity and Neighborhood Schools in the Upper South
Attitudes toward diversity and neighborhood schools matter because they underlie many families’ decisions for residential location, with consequences for both school systems and students. Case studies of desegregation highlight locational dynamics that influence these outcomes, but differences in theory and methods limit rigorous comparisons among residents across such areas. This study focuses on two under-researched correlates of these preferences toward school assignment models: school district location and length of residence in that district. We evaluate whether school district location and length of residence decrease support for diverse schools and increase support for neighborhood schools, net of numerous controls. We use an innovative new dataset that features opinion polling of respondents’ views of public school assignments in Raleigh, NC; Charlotte, NC; Louisville, KY; Rock Hill, SC; and Nashville, TN (5302 cases). We find that compared to having lived in a school district 7 years or less, living in that district over 15 years decreases support for diversity. Furthermore, living all one’s life in a district increases support for neighborhood schools. We also find that Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Rock Hill, and Nashville districts are less supportive of neighborhood schools than Raleigh, but that there are also interactive effects between length of residence and school district location. These results shed light on district differences in social forces leading to school resegregation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1528559
- PAR ID:
- 10547579
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Behavioral Scientist
- Volume:
- 66
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0002-7642
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 744-769
- Size(s):
- p. 744-769
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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