This study explores the often unrecognized additional roles and responsibilities of Black teachers in K-12 education. Despite comprising only 7% of the teaching workforce, Black educators frequently assume duties beyond their formal job descriptions, including serving as mentors, cultural liaisons, disciplinarians, and advocates. Utilizing Role Theory, this research examines how these hidden roles impact Black teachers’ professional experiences, job satisfaction, and emotional well-being. Through semi-structured interviews with 17 Black teachers across various U.S. regions, the study reveals not only the burdens but also the sources of pride and fulfillment that these additional roles can generate. The findings highlight the urgent need for systemic changes, such as peer support groups, culturally relevant professional development, and equitable compensation policies. These measures aim to acknowledge and support the multifaceted contributions of Black teachers, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and sustainable educational environment.
School discipline aims to address problematic behaviors by suspending or removing disruptive students from class. Previous research indicates that school discipline negatively affects student outcomes, including reduced academic performance and heightened dropout rates (Anderson et al., 2019; Holt & Gershenson, 2019; Roch & Elsayed, 2020). Disparities remain stark, as minority students—particularly Black and Hispanic populations—are disproportionately suspended or expelled (Anderson & Ritter, 2020; Barrett et al., 2021; Nicholson-Crotty et al., 2009). Furthermore, these practices are more prevalent in schools serving students of color, those in high-poverty areas, and institutions with lower academic performance. This study investigates the factors on school discipline by analyzing data from the New York State Education Department (2007–2023). This research highlights the urgent need for equitable disciplinary practices that mitigate long-term adverse effects and address disparity in school discipline across school environments.
We explore changes in perceptions and actions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) among faculty, staff, students, and community members who participated in a year-long seminar series at a university located in the urban core of a Midwestern city. The results of a pre-/post-survey to assess color-blind racial attitudes and post-project individual interviews demonstrate that participants changed their perceptions to adopt a broader definition of diversity and developed a new awareness of their own intersectional identities and biases. Participants also reflected on the cohort experience and relevance of the curriculum, and they engaged in actions in their professional and personal lives to apply concepts from the series. The paper shares implications for successful DEI professional development projects within urban higher education communities in an increasingly challenging political context.
This qualitative study explored what motivates urban students in an accelerated honors high school to learn. Forty-four students in grades 9-12 responded to a single, open-ended question: “What motivates you to learn?” Using grounded theory, the findings indicated that family was the primary motivator. Intrinsic motivation increased from grades 9-10 to 11-12, was higher among females, and was positively correlated with GPA.
Objective: Identify and compare the nuances in depressive symptoms among adolescent Black boys and adolescent White Boys who experienced school policing and school discipline. Methods: Data from 1,099 adolescent boys (803 Black boys and 296 White boys) from the Future of Families & Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were used to identify depressive subgroups among adolescent Black and White boys. I conducted a latent class analysis to examine the subgroup differences among respondents regarding school policing, school discipline, and depressive symptoms. The categorical indicators, school policing and school discipline, were measured by the following questions: “police officer or officers regularly stationed at school?”; “some other security guard regularly stationed at school?”; “stopped by police at school”; “ever seen someone stopped by police in your school?”; and “ever been suspended or expelled in the past two years?” The continuous indicator, depressive symptoms, was measured by using the CES-D 5. Covariates included demographic and school-level connectedness variables. Results: Four depressive subgroups were identified: (1) ecology of policing and discipline, (2) school disciplined, (3) no regular security and never been stopped by police, and (4) security regularly stationed. The subgroups had an incremental decrease in depressive symptoms mean scores. Conclusion: School policing and school discipline influence adolescent Black boys and adolescent White boys differently, such that Black boys were school policed and disciplined more and had higher depressive symptoms than White boys. Therefore, each group of boys experiences similar educational environments in different ways.
