But espe-cially among lower-income families, the choices parents make are often not well informed and are constrained by transportation and child care problems.26 School choice would not likely have made much difference for the lower-class children we've focused on in this book, for example, because they lacked savvy parents to help them make better choices.

lara and Francisco's story provides a classic example of upward mo-bility among second-generation immigrants. "We're pretty Mexican at home," Clara says of their assimilation, "but at work we're totally Ameri-canized.

That said, she also recalls chat she and her brother were occasionally shepherded home by friendly black teachers. Seeking greater safety, the family moved around South Central and southeastern Los Angeles, always in poor, mostly Latino neighborhoods. "We grew up in a com-munity where it was low-income, lots of drugs,

Latinos in Orange County are more likely to live not only in poverty bur also amidst street violence and gang activity. Santa Ana alone is home co 29 street gangs.

arents have to be an integral part of the mentoring process. They can rein-force the skills students learn at school and provide important information to teachers about the strengths of their sons and daughters. For their part teachers can help parents to help their children access scholarships and funding for summer programs and other opportunities many do not know about because they have been left out of the information loop.

The next day, Ms. Hill did not warmly greet me at the beginning of class. I raised my hand, and she called on me last. When I shared my perspective, she was noticeably silent.

In my household, we did not have many books. I believe my lack of books contributed to my below average reading test scores. In third grade I was read-ing at a second-grade level. Research indicates that social class can influence cognitive abilities because a lack of money results in fewer experiences at muse-ums and traveling, fewer books in the home, and less access to preschool educa-tion (Bowles & Gintis, 2002; Good & Brophy, 1987).

o my own surprise, I raised my hand the next day. Ms. Hill smiled. She appreciated my remarks and agreed with many of my comments. Some of the students also remarked that they shared my perspective. After class Ms. Hill gave me a nod and wink and said, "Good job." I continued to participate in class and received Bs and B+s on my written assignments.

African American and Latino students are !;[early underrep-resented across subject areas, with the exception of AP Spanish, in which Latino students arc slightly overrepresented.

ll three forms of c?pital-e';onomic, social, and cultural-play a role in perpetuat-ing disparate educational experiences anJ differential access to edu-cational opportunities.

hat is less obvious is ·the way in which the school structure is also implicated in rein-forcing patterns of disadvantage and privilege.

Absent fathers, past or present substance abuse, a parent's lack of education, and early childbearing are all factors that can influence parental mental health and childrearing.

Also, children from low-income families are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior and to have mental health problems.

s shown in chapter 2, math and reading gaps between high-and low-income children have grown substantially over the past three decades

There must be training si tes where teachers have the opportunity to express those concerns while also learning to create ways to approach the multicultural classroom and curriculum.

It forces us all to recognize our complicity in accepting and perpetuating biases of any kind. Students are eager to break through barriers to knowing.

espite the focus on diversity, our desires for inclusion, many professors still teach in classrooms that are predominant-ly white.

To some extent, we all know that whenever we address in the classroom subjects that stu-dents are passionate about there is always a possibility of con-frontation, forceful expression of ideas, or even conflict.

Minorities of any kind are positioned as "affirmative action babies" or "token [fill in the blank]." Legacy admits, how-ever, are rarely if ever questioned. Gurin et al. (2004)

Why are people poor? Because our historical and social structures mean them to be.

hy are people poor? Most notably, why do the same groups of people te~d to endure poverty from generation to generation?

ecisions about schooling also take place in a context that makes it hard to change anything and especially difficult to alter the structure of privile.ge. Unlike schooling in every other major industrialized country, public educaoo~ in this country is democratic and deeply local

Efforts to promote the collective goals of the American dream through public schooling have run up against almost insurmountable barriers when enough people believe (rightly or wrongly, with evidence or without) that those efforts will endanger the com-parative advantage of their children or children like them.

T HE AMERICAN DREAM IS A POWERFUL CONCEPT. It encourages each person who lives in the United States to pursue success, and it cre-ates the framework within which everyone can do it. It holds each person responsible for achieving his or her own dreams, while generating shared values and behaviors needed to persuade Americans that they have a real chance to achieve them. It holds out a vision of both individual success and the col-lective good of all.

Whether inspired by Mann's plea to elevate the masses to higher moral and financial ground via schooling, or other notions of social justice, even now Europeans refer to publicly funded education as "the social elevator" (Lopez-Fogues, 2011). As Mann originally conceived the function of public education, there was overt recognition that something in society was amiss, and that "something" could be effectively redressed by offering public education to all-not just some. The same "something" that Mann was acutely aware of and deeply troubled by was and is the gross and growing disparities among the social classes. We continue to need methods for shrinking overwhelming and widen-ing class divides. Many of us choose to address the equity gap by struggling to supply universal access to high-quality, free, and appropriate public education. Nearly two centuries later, "the great equalizer" cannot equalize soon enough.

Marissa was devoting her energy to boys at the bottom, the ones with potential to undermine her authority and throw the class into turmoil. So powerful was their influence, they determined where she walked, whom she questioned, and even how the room was arranged and where stu-dents sat.

o keep from getting cold. Finally, too bored to wait for more direc-tions, several start swimming to the other end of the pool. Others fol-low. Not a single girl has received instruction on how to improve her performance.

When teachers ask students to read aloud one after the other down the row, one paragraph after another, nominal students count ahead and practice their upcoming paragraph silently

At other times they pause or stop to think before raising their arms straight and high. Educator Diana Meehan calls this phenomenon the "girl pa use": If a teacher asks a question, a girl pa uses to think, Do I know this? Meanwhile, a boy blurts out an answer, and the class moves on.

Male students frequently control classroom conversa-tion. They ask and answer more questions. They receive more praise for the intellectual quality of their ideas. They get criticized more publicly and harshly when they break a rule. They get help when they are con-fused. They are the heart and center of interaction.

adolescent girls are forced to bear much of the weight of learning about sexual heath and birth control.

This gendered double standard places blame entirely on young women, who must then navigate a campus climate fi lled with rumors and sneers, includ-ing by these three friends who also belittle their female schoolmates

hus, the objectifi cation of female bodies and the implementation of school dress codes are not neutral. Not all adolescent girls are equally impacted by, or punished for, their styles of dress, and the subjective interpretations of the primarily middle-class and White school offi cials determine modes of comportment.

A common narrative in society, and repeated at SCHS, is that the sexual-ity of Latinas, relative to Whites, Asian Americans, and their male counter-parts, is a problem needing control (Garcia 2012). Underlying this concern is a fear of teen pregnancy and acceptance of a cultural defi ciency frame-work positing that Latinas, as a group, are promiscuous and favor young motherhood. An

ogether, these dynamics foster a discriminatory environment of sexualized policing that reinforces hier-archies and limits a sense of belonging in school.

Boys learn aggression well before they begin school. Society teaches boys to project an outward appearance of strength, confidence, and security even when all are lacking.

"I've seen it in computer science and math class," another boy volunteers. "Girls aren't pushed to go to higher levels. It's partly the teacher's fault, but a lot of it is peers. Guys say girls can't do these things, so it discourages them.

Perfectionism, low self-esteem, and negative body image can set the stage for depression. Increasingly girls are turning to drugs to cope. In fact, teenage girls, having caught up to their male counterparts in illegal drug use and alcohol consumption, now surpass boys in smoking and prescription drug abuse. An astonishing 10 percent of teen girls abuse prescription painkillers, tranquilizers, and stimulants. Girls described smoking and drugs as "convenient" ways to lose weight

"When you look good, people are envious and give you respect." "Social status is based a lot on looks." "Nothing hurts more than being criticized about your style or hair, weight and height."

Girls wanted to be remembered as a "leader in activities," closely followed by "most popular." "Brilliant student" ranked a distant third.7 For boys, athletics was mentioned again and again as the gateway to high school status. When girls were asked how they reached the leading crowd in school, they referred to appear-ance and personality: "Wear just the right things," they said. "Money, clothes, a flashy appearance. Date older boys, get fairly good grades, but don't be too smart. Flirt with boys. Be cooperative on dates

Reactions offer a yardstick to measure themselves, pooling and reflecting them in a process Charles Horton Cooley called "the looking-glass self. "5 By high school the mirror held up by peers is the one youth look into most to learn who they are and what they can become.6 The looking-glass self is far from a new phenomenon; indeed it seems timeless. Take a moment to look back upon your own high school experience. What did you see reflected in the looking-glass?

School is more of a war zone-a place to survive.

When high schoolers were asked to identify the best thing about their school, they usually said, "My friends." Sports activities ranked sec-ond. "Nothing" ranked higher than "classes I'm taking" and "teachers."

I would like to emphasize the importance of examining the agency of Asian American girls in navi-gating structural inequalities and constructing a borderland community that they desired. While some scholars have explored the agentic features of these girls (Maira, 2002; ngo, 2002; Shankar, 2008), more research is needed that explores ways to enhance, support, and build on their strengths and reima-gine what is possible for these girls in negotiating their constraints. I also suggest scholars explore the intra-differences of Asian American girls. The girls in this study are relatively recent immigrants who live in a multi-racial suburb of the east coast where there is a small Asian population. Scholars should conduct research on various groups of Asian American girls and explore how different loca-tions, regions, nations of origin, and generations shape their unique experiences and their ways of constructing communities.

Savannah also explained to me that walking through the ‘Main Street’ felt ‘a little scary’ dur-ing lunch because some students would ‘stare’ at her. The girls’ rejection of this space was a rejection of the complex power dynamics that occurred in relation to race, ethnicity, class, gender, personality, appearance, values, etc

pecifically, first- and 1.5-generation girls often longed for the intimate family time they had experienced in their countries of origin including daily family dinners, regular conversations with their parents, and frequent visits by family neighbors, which rarely occurred in the uS.

Some girls recently immigrated to the uS, retaining a strong memory of their places of origin, while others were born and raised in the uS, having never visited their parents’ countries of origin.

Bibles and reli-gious books, televisions and TV schedules, soccer magazines, computers, videotapes, electronic games, CD players and CDs, iPods, and global posi-tioning system (GPS) devices among others.

The boys’ teacher, Mrs. Martin, Puerto Rican and bilingual, was effective at integrating the children’s lives and cultures into lessons. An ESL teacher and bilingual aides assisted in working with the children who were speakers of Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Romanian, and Cambodian.

ne day he decided that I had stoled [sic] his calculator. He made a big deal out of it. A lot of drama. I was suspended for three

I know that college is important but right now I have to focus on help-ing my family. Without papers there’s not much I can do. And it’s not the focus of our teachers. They just want us to learn English and so they don’t talk to us about how to apply to college. I think it’s best if I work and help my family. 6

This is particularly important for students who have less information about how schools and the broader society allocate resources and opportu-nity.

They also faced restrictions from federal and state fi nancial aid. 2

There are many reasons why undocumented immigrant students do not make successful transitions to college: exclusion from fi nancial aid, resource-challenged families, frustration, and disillusionment, to name a few.

Flor eventually returned to school. Along the way she married and had children. Due to fi nancial and family issues, Flor took seven years to earn her GED

With so many mouths to feed, Flor’s family struggled to make ends meet. She entered the labor force at the age of 14. A family cleaning business allowed her to bypass the typical hurdles involved in seeking work.

Indeed, babies born to immi-grant mothers tend to be healthier than second-generation babies, and im-migrant children are less likely to be obese, to experiment with drugs and alcohol, or to engage in a host of other risky behaviors

Our study focuses exclusively on the experiences of recently arrived foreign-born youth and their families.

approximately 1.8 million children are in the United States without legal papers, and an additional 3.1 million children are born in the United States to undocumented alien parents.

Schooling is particularly important for immigrant youth. For them, it is the first sustained, meaningful, and enduring participation in an institu-tion of the new society.

In reality, the cost of living varies dra-matically based on geography; for example, people classifi ed as poor in San Francisco might not feel as poor if they lived in Clay County, Kentucky.

Principal Lee- Sung recounted an incident in which a hesitant Latina student was persuaded by her counselor to take a higher- level math class, but when the student went to the class, “fi rst thing the teacher says is, ‘What are you doing here? You don’t belong in this class’. . . .

(1) that valuing education is inherent to an essentialized “Asian” culture and (2) that Asians succeed in school because they work hard, therefore embodying the ideal immigrant, minority group by increas-ing their capacity to contribute productively to American society.

In recent decades, numerous school systems have become increasingly atten-tive to the mental health needs of students and provide more counseling services. However, such mental health counselors may often be ill-equipped to deal with students of color.

Ann, a Vietnamese American in the Northeast, shares her struggles with self-image as she moved into high school settings

Most school systems seem to allow much racist teasing. Respondents who protested to teachers were usually told not to take racial taunting seriously.

Take Japanese Americans, for example. Recent data indicate that Japanese Americans are more likely to hold managerial or professional jobs than their white counterparts, and their unemployment rate is less than that for whites.

However, the white view of the Chinese and of Koreans became more negative with the new conflicts that developed after WorldWarII.

Many social science researchers view the adaptation of Asian immigrants and their children to U.S. society since the 1960s through an assimilation lens, one similar to that used for assessing the adaptations of past and present European immigrants.

Mexican American youth frequently choose clothing and accessories such as baggy _pants and multilayered .gold necklaces that "confirm" their teachers' suspicions that they really do not care about school.

"we-they" distinctions

Finally, quantitative evidence points to significantly higher academic achievement among immigrants than among U.S.-born youth located in the regular track

This tendency on the part of teachers and admin-istrators to blame children, parents, and community has been amply observed in ethnographies of minority youth in urban schools

If we are to successfully educate all of our children, we muse work to remove the blinders built of stereotypes, monocul-tural instructional methodologies, ignorance, social distance, biased research, and racism.

yet teachers cannot hope to begin to understand who sits before them unless they can con-nect with the families and communities from which their students come.

Thus, teachers sometimes refrain from calling on Native American students to avoid causing them discomfort, and these children subsequently miss the opportunity to discuss or display their knowledge of the subject matter.

Black boys are unduly penalized in our regular classrooms. They are disproportionately assigned to special education. They do not have to be, and would not be, if our teachers were taught how to redesign classrooms so that the styles of African-American boys are accommodated.

The benefit was even more striking for Black students, who reported enjoying academics more, saw academics as more important, and had significantly higher grades at the end of the academic quarter than those Black students who had not been exposed to this brief but powerful intervention.

I think it's made a very positive impact on their place in the school and on their individual self-esteem. I see them enjoying themselves and able to enjoy all of us as individuals. I can't say enough, it's been the best thing chat's happened co the METCO program as far as I'm concerned. 54

Even when White friends are willing and able to listen and bear witness to one's struggles, they cannot really share the experience

Learning his history in college was of great psychological importance ro Jon, providing him with role models he had been missing in high school. He was particularly inspired by learning of the intellectual leg-acy of Black men at his own college

Another reported, "Almost every day on Call of Duty: Black Ops [a video game involving other online players] I see Confederate flags, swastikas and black people hang-ing from trees in emblems and they say racist things about me and my teammates." Another game-related incident was this one: "Me and my friends were playing Xbox and some kid joined the Xbox Live party we were in and made a lot of racist jokes I found offensive

at least 95 percent of American youth have access to the internet, and adolescents of color spend a lot of time using it-four and a half more hours per day on average than their White peers

That's no realistic goal for a nig-ger," and advised him to consider carpentry instead.

"to call your attention to disparities that persist in access to educational resources, and to help you address those disparities and comply with the legal obligation to provide students with equal access to these resources without regard to race, color, or national origin."

Each of these experiences would convey a racial message. At seven, race was not yet salient for David because it was not yet salient for society. But later it would be

(4) achieved, a state of strong personal commitment to a particular dimen-sion of identity following a period of high exploration.

WALK INTO ANY RACIALLY MIXED HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA AT LUNCH-tune 3:11d you will instantly notice that in the sea of adolescent faces, there is an identifiable group of Black students sitting together. Con-versely, it could be pointed out that there are many groups of White students sitting together as well, though people rarely comment about that.

n this way I was raised to be compliant, one element of the hidden curriculum in our schools. This insistence on compliance is also one aspect of schooling that keeps some students from feeling they can challenge the very structures that repress them. They often feel silenced and alienated from public education at an early age.

Nearly half ( 46 percent) of freshmen in the class of 2000 who came from private feeder schools were plnced in Honors Geometry, compared ro just 18 percent of freshmen from Berkeley public middle schools, all of whom cook Honors Algebra in the eighth grade.

Jennifer came to the high school from a private middle school with a more rigorous c1cndemic program. This may be why Jennifer reports that she found Berkeley High "much easier" than her middle school.

All three forms of c?pital-e';onomic, social, and cultural-play a role in perpetuat-ing disparate educational experiences anJ differential access to edu-cational opportunities. However, they do so in interaction with seemingly neutral structures that operate within schools and society.

In addition, more affluent students like Jennifer can rely on _the resources of their parents ( private tutors and counselor , the

"One Friday night, for instance, the two pizzas in the oven must be divided among [six family members]. When Harold asks for a second piece of pizza, he is redirected to drink soda

These kinds of expenses were not unusual for the upper-middle-class families in Lareau's study. All could easily afford comfortable and reliable cars to transport their children from activity to activity. All lived in spa-cious houses in quiet, relatively crime-free neighborhoods.

Alternatively, psychologists and sociologists focus on how economic disadvantage impairs the quality of family relationships.

Also, children from low-income families are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior and to have mental health problems.

Moreover, the reading gap was even larger when the same children were tested in fifth grade. Gaps in mathematics achievement are also substantial. 2

And in con-trast to Anthony, Alexander lived with both of his parents, which not only added to family income but also increased the amount of time available for a parent to spend with Alexander.

It is easy to imagine how the childhood circumstances of these two young men may have shaped their fates. Alexander lived in the suburbs while Anthony lived in the city center. Most of Alexander's suburban neighbors lived in families with incomes above the $125,000 that now sep-arates the richest 20 percent of children from the rest. Anthony Mears's school served pupils from families whose incomes were near or below the $27,000 threshold separating the bottom 20 percent (see figure 2.4).

We had not realized how much faculty would need to unlearn racism to learn about col-onization and decolonization and to fully appreciate the neces-sity for creating a democratic liberal arts learning experience.

Agam and agam, 1t was nec-mc . . ¡· . 11 t remind everyone that no educatwn 1s po 1tica y neu-essary o . . 1 Emphasizing that a white male professor m an Enghsh tra. ,. ak d arttnent who teaches only work by "great white men IS m -ep . . ing a political decision, we had to work cons1stently agamst and through the overwhelming will on the part of folks to deny the politics of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and so forth that · form how and what we teach.

Agam and agam, 1t was nec-mc . . ¡· . 11 t remind everyone that no educatwn 1s po 1tica y neu-essary o . . 1 Emphasizing that a white male professor m an Enghsh tra. ,. ak d arttnent who teaches only work by "great white men IS m -ep . . ing a political decision, we had to work cons1stently agamst and through the overwhelming will on the part of folks to deny the politics of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and so forth that · form how and what we teach.

Not least important, however, is the fact that local districts mirror and reinforce separation by class and race. Democratic control, therefore, not only provides support for public education but also creates a forum for the occa-sional exercise of bigotry and xenophobia; localism not only accommodates community idiosyncrasies but also serves as a barrier to changes in the distri-bution of students and resources

T HE AMERICAN DREAM IS A POWERFUL CONCEPT. It encourages each person who lives in the United States to pursue success, and it cre-ates the framework within which everyone can do it. It holds each person responsible for achieving his or her own dreams, while generating shared values and behaviors needed to persuade Americans that they have a real chance to achieve them. It holds out a vision of both individual success and the col-lective good of all

We have a great national opportunity-to ensure that every child, in every school, is challenged by high standards, ... to build a culture of achievement that matches the optimism and aspirations of our country.