The Color of Success 2.0
Race and Transformative Pathways for High-Achieving Urban Youth

Gilberto Q. Conchas (Author), Cynthia Feliciano (Foreword by)

9780807769904

Paperback / softback, published 26 July 2024

240 pages
22.9 x 15.6 x 1.2 cm, 0.34 kg

The first edition of The Color of Success was a groundbreaking, asset-based exploration of the educational trajectories of high-achieving, low-income students within urban schools. The author brings his now seminal book up to date with insights based on existing and new research, current policies, and innovative pedagogical approaches. Conchas utilizes a critical lens to examine the intersectional identities of racially minoritized students, the role of existing power hierarchies within schools, and offers specific structural approaches that create educational opportunity. The Color of Success 2.0 amplifies student voice; explores school, family, and community partnerships; promotes culturally relevant pedagogy and teacher preparation; includes a new chapter on Black male optimism after the historic election of President Barack Obama; and offers a thought-provoking additional chapter on the role of educational leaders in promoting successful school pathways; plus, a thoroughly revised quantitative chapter on social capital. With a sense of urgency, readers will gain vital insights for understanding what is needed to create, promote, and expand equitable school environments and transformative pathways for racially minoritized urban youth.

• Contents
• Foreword to the 1st Edition  
  vii
• Foreword to the 2nd Edition  
  xi
• Preface  
  xv
• Acknowledgments  
  xix
• Introduction: Race and Transformative Pathways to High-Achieving Urban Youth  
  1
  The OG: The Color of Success  
  2
  The Color of Success 2.0: New Research, Emerging Research, and Praxis  
  3
  Minimizing Inequity and Promoting Opportunity  
  5
  Semantic Conventions  
  6
  Case Study Research Approach and Design  
  7
  On My Subjectivity as a Chicana/o/x Researcher  
  11
  Organization of this Book  
  14
• 1.  
  A Critical Perspective of the Challenges Confronting Students of Color: Toward a Conceptual Framework of Transformative Urban School Pathways  
  18
  Issues Associated With Educational Inequity  
  19
  Cultural-Ecological Explanations of Low Academic Performance Among Racially Minoritized Students  
  21
  Complicating the Cultural Ecological Framework  
  24
  School Processes and Engagement Among Students of Color  
  25
  The Student Voice of High-Achieving Minoritized Youth  
  27
  Confronting Segregation and Stereotypes  
  28
  Valuing Minoritized Students'
  Experiences to Promote Urban School Success  
  30
  Conclusion  
  30
• 2.  
  Balkanization in Urban School Spaces: Integrated and Segregated Organizational Cultures and Structures Side-by-Side  
  32
  Racial Segregation, Engagement, and Performance  
  33
  Baldwin High School as the Case Study Setting  
  33
  Why a California High School?  
  35
  The General School Climate as Perceived by Teachers and Students  
  36
  Non-Belonging Student Perceptions of the General School Pathway  
  38
  The College and Career Academies  
  41
  Mediating Distinct Peer Relations  
  50
  Conclusion  
  51
• 3.  
  "We Just Make the Best of What We Have": Immigrant and U.S-Born Vietnamese American Youth Surfing the "Model Minority" Wave of Success  
  52
  Background on Asian American Student Achievement  
  53
  Vietnamese Origin Students at Baldwin High School  
  56
  Gender and the Construction of Student Ability  
  58
  Academic Identity Groups among High-Achieving Vietnamese Students  
  59
  Understanding the "Model Minority" Stereotype  
  59
  Structuring Competition Versus Collaborative Learning  
  61
  Benefiting from the "Model Minority" Typology  
  62
  Conclusion  
  64
• 4.  
  "I Want to Make a Difference": Understanding Immigrant and U.S.- Born Latina/o/x Students'
  Variability in Academic Aspirations, School Engagement, and Optimism  
  66
  Background on Latina/o/x School Achievement  
  67
  School Opportunity Structure and Racial Perceptions  
  68
  Identity Formation Among Latina/o/x Students  
  70
  Responses of High-Achieving Latina/o/x Students  
  71
  Creating Optimism Despite Inequity Among Medical Academy Latina/o/xs  
  77
  Conclusion  
  79
• 5.  
  "Nothing Can Stop Me Now": Constructing Black Student Aspirations, Expectations, and School Success  
  81
  Background on Black Student Achievement  
  81
  The Situation at Baldwin High School  
  84
  The Academy Experience at Baldwin High School  
  88
  A Closer Look at Black Males, Aspirations, and Expectations  
  93
  A Closer Look at Black Females, Aspirations, and Expectations  
  96
  Conclusion  
  98
• 6.  
  "(Obama) Becomin'
  President Kinda Raise the Bar on What You'
  re Doin'
  ": Perceptions of Opportunity and Constraining Aspirations Among Black Male Youth During a Time of Historic Change  
  101
  Oppositional Culture as Institutional Phenomenon  
  103
  Historical Significance of the Election of Barack Obama  
  104
  Promoting Academic Achievement for Students of Color  
  105
  The Palmview Male Cooperative  
  107
  PMC Students on Social Mobility, Racial Inequality, and Marginalization  
  109
  The PMC as a Source of Social Capital, Cultural Capital, and Brotherhood  
  114
  The PMC and Academic Achievement  
  122
  Conflicting and Constraining Student Perspectives on Aspirations  
  123
  How Can We Explain This Perplexing Phenomenon?  
  126
  Conclusion  
  129
• 7.  
  Institutional Change Agents: Student-Centered Approaches, Culture Shifts, and the Construction of Pathways for Urban School Success  
  131
  College and Career Academies as Small Learning Communities  
  134
  Unraveling School Success'
  s Approach to Providing TA  
  136
  Overview of School Success  
  137
  School Success and Technical Assistance  
  137
  Why and How School Success Promotes the Four Pillars of Linked Learning  
  141
  Discussion of School Success'
  s Current State and Future in the School Change Landscape  
  149
  Conclusion  
  153
• 8.  
  "We Are Like a Family . . . We Know Each Other Well and Get Along": Teacher and Peer Relationships as (Pre)conditions for the Potential Realization of Social Capital  
  155
  Preconditions for the Realization of Social Capital  
  157
  Time Students Spend on Homework Outside of School  
  160
  A Novel Approach for Examining Familial and School Preconditions for Social Capital  
  160
  Findings From the Data in Five Steps  
  166
  Conclusion  
  177
• 9.  
  Racial Inequity and Transformative Educational Pathways Informing Policy and Praxis: Wrapping It all Up  
  180
  Institutional Processes, Social Support Systems, and School Success  
  181
  Student Ideology, Institutional Mechanisms, and Social Support Systems  
  182
  Summary of the Key Findings and Policy Recommendations  
  186
  Implications for Further Research  
  190
  Policy and Praxis Limitations  
  191
  Conclusion  
  193
• References  
  195
• Index  
  213
• About the Author  
  220