Deficit-Oriented Beliefs, Anti-Black Policies, Punitive Practices, and Labeling: Exploring the Mechanisms of Disproportionality and Its Impact on Black Boys in One Urban “No-Excuses” Charter School

Abstract

Background/Context: Embedded in “common sense” and state-mandated reforms to close “the achievement gap,” the urban school, especially those sites with a no-excuses orientation to learning, can produce and reproduce the carceral state in students’ lives. The seemingly innocuous policies and processes limit access to educational opportunities and create disproportionate out-of-class time, which can emerge as the connective tissue for criminalization and the school-to-prison nexus that disproportionately affects Black males in the United States. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The objective of the study was to illuminate the more unspoken mechanisms of disproportionality in school while concurrently raising awareness of how everyday practices, like school-imposed mis/labeling, contribute to the symbolic violence and dehumanization of Black and Latinx boys in school. Research Design: The article includes purposeful observations and semi-structured interview data with school personnel and students drawn from a 14-month ethnographic study. Findings/Results: The findings from this study revealed that the mechanisms of disproportionality ranged from explicit anti-Black policies to more tacit systems and processes, but all reflected how the no-excuses environment contributes to the connective tissue of criminalization and the school-to-prison nexus for boys of Color. The finding centers on three systems and policies that are influenced by carceral logic and the enforcement of student alienation. Conclusion/Recommendations: The findings from the study reveal the need for a radical transformation of no-excuses public charter schools, one that is community-based and rooted in an Afrocentric education. If educators and other school personnel are working in tandem with community members, they can reassess their negative misperceptions of minoritized communities that begin to shape infractions rooted in anti-Blackness. A community-based approach can begin to dismantle the school-to-prison nexus. Furthermore, an Afrocentric education approach requires school personnel to understand the history and culture of people of African descent and to see students’ full humanity. Here, students’ lived experiences would be centered within the diaspora, while sociocultural norms that may have been criminalized in the past would be valued and accepted.

“Our Teaching Transcends a Subject Matter”: Learning From Black Women Educators’ Beliefs about Literacy Instruction During Extraordinary Times

“…Regine explained that curriculum writers continued to distribute lessons unchanged from previous years, leaving students and teachers bereft of opportunities to discuss nationwide events in school. Such silence characterizes the seeming apolitical nature of schooling that reproduces, rather than confronts, oppression (Macedo & Freire, 1987).…”

“…According to Solórzano and Yosso (2001), the cultural deficit model posits that Since parents of color fail to assimilate and embrace the educational values of the dominant group, and continue to transmit or socialize their children with values that inhibit educational mobility, then they are to blame if low educational attainment continues into succeeding generations. (p. 6) Cultural deficit models legitimize apolitical conceptualizations of literacy instruction, thereby locating underachievement within students and their families rather than in school or society (Foster & Onafowora, 2003;Macedo & Freire, 1987). Similarly, deficit ideologies dampen teachers' beliefs about students' learning potential: Matthew effect (Stanovich, 1986), word-gap research (Hart & Risley, 1995), and standardized test performance render pernicious labels, such as "struggling" or "reluctant" reader, that may be nearly impossible for students to shake (Deschenes et al, 2001;Learned, 2016).…”

“…Similarly, deficit ideologies dampen teachers' beliefs about students' learning potential: Matthew effect (Stanovich, 1986), word-gap research (Hart & Risley, 1995), and standardized test performance render pernicious labels, such as "struggling" or "reluctant" reader, that may be nearly impossible for students to shake (Deschenes et al, 2001;Learned, 2016). Unsurprisingly, then, deficit beliefs justify how schools sort students-be it in "honors" or "remediated" classes-to socialize them toward our current social order, ultimately harming marginalized students most acutely (Anyon, 1980;Marsh & Walker, 2022;Oakes, 2005). Thus, when educators embrace deficit ideologies, they simultaneously embrace lowered expectations for marginalized students who they believe are incapable of excelling in their schoolwork, thus leaving their literacy development uncultivated.…”

“Is it Okay Not to be Okay?”: A Critical Literature Review of Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for Black Men

“…For example, Masuda et al (2012) conducted a study on attitudes toward mental health help seeking and stigma among Black college students and found psychosocial factors, such as poverty, lack of accessibility, racial mismatch, and mistrust of providers to be reasons for the significant lack of utilization of mental health services among Black students. These factors were influenced by anti-Black systems and policies consistent with those historically associated with medical distrust (Dumas & Ross, 2016;Marsh & Walker, 2022;Thomas, 2016).…”