Study of Boston Public Schools finds limited access to challenging coursework for black and Latino males

Many of the students protesting racism on college campuses have had their outrage acknowledged in the form of resignations of university staff and recently created diversity officer positions. But as satisfying as these symbolic actions may be, they don’t get at the root of a major problem. One of the strongest themes within the race narrative on campuses from the University of Missouri to Yale has been inclusion.

Campus culture makes many Black students feel isolated, marginalized, feared and questioned. This exclusion occurs because of negative stereotypes, the low percentage of students of color within the student population, and the dominant culture’s default to a “colorblind” approach to education.

One way to address racism against students of color on American colleges is to increase the pipeline of college-bound students of color in American elementary and secondary schools and weave discussions of diversity into the fabric of the curriculum and school culture. A recent study on the educational opportunities and attainment of Black and Latino boys in the Boston Public Schools provided information that is disturbing but instructive for any large urban school district and for those of us hoping to increase the percentages of students of color on college campuses.

The two-part study, commissioned by Boston Public Schools and conducted by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and the Center for Collaborative Education, determined that at every stage of education, Black and Latino males had limited access to rigorous coursework. For example, despite Black and Latino males accounting for almost four-fifths of male enrollment, they account for just one-tenth of male enrollment in Advanced Work Classes, the primary path for Boston’s college-prep exam schools.

Invitation to Advanced Work Classes is determined in the third grade, when students are separated into two tracks based on one standardized test. Many of the eight-year-old test-takers are just learning English. Others – disproportionately, children of color and/or low-income – did not have the benefit of pre-K programs. These children and those with special needs form a separate group – one where the course work starts and stays less challenging, the expectations are lower, and the track becomes harder to jump -with each passing year.

We have learned time and again that children are adept at understanding and adapting to the expectations that adults set for them. Given the opportunity gaps noted, it was no surprise that there are far fewer male students of color heading to college after graduating from urban high schools. We strongly recommended that these schools change their tiered systems of learning to ensure that all children have access to rigorous programming, high levels of support, and an academic trajectory that leads to a higher-education degree.

Our research, which intended to discover best-practice strategies for Black and Latino male achievement, found that the explicit affirmation of race and diversity in curriculum and instruction – which can lead to higher levels of academic achievement – was absent even in those schools doing comparatively better with Black and Latino males.

Cultural responsiveness was limited to the classrooms of highly motivated teachers or the occasional “feasts and festivals” celebration. Some teachers and administrators interviewed weren’t even aware of their own students’ cultural backgrounds, which is troubling, given that immigrants are the fastest-growing segment of the student population.

We know that one quality of good schools is “knowing your kids.” The cultural diversity that now exists in large urban school systems calls for a professional response and a different lens. Teachers must be more versed in who is in front of them and willing to learn and practice what works with students of different cultures and histories. Black and Latino males need to see teachers and administrators who look like them and know them well enough to provide appropriate academic and social supports. These students also need to be enrolled in high-quality learning opportunities so that their presence is a norm, rather than the exception.

Warren Simmons, Ph.D., is the former Executive Director and current Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University;

Rosann Tung, Ph.D., is the AISR’s Director of Research and Policy.