Advanced Places - White Spaces: Supporting the Social Emotional Identities of Minoritized Populations in Predominantly White Advanced Programs

In schools throughout the United States the racial compositions of classrooms are undergoing a demographic shift consistent with national census data indicating increases in the numbers of racial minorities attending k -12 institutions. In schools however, historically marginalized populations remain significantly and disproportionately underrepresented within advanced academic environments. Research into the phenomenon of underrepresentation presents several limitations. First, a preponderance of the scholarship focuses exclusively on high school students, neglecting other grade bands. Secondly, a majority of the research narrowly examines statistical representations of underrepresented populations, in absence of other qualitative information. Third, a further gap exists in the scholarship around historically marginalized middle school students in advanced programs. This proposed dissertation seeks to understand the factors that attribute to underrepresentation among middle school students in predominantly white advanced environments. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to document the experiences of historically marginalized middle school students participating in advanced programming and AVID, a teaching and learning program centered on academic and social/emotional support. Theories of Critical Race, adolescent racial and social identity development, and Relational Cultural Theory are evaluated to form a theoretical framework that examines the experiences of historically marginalized AVID students within predominantly white advanced programs. Qualitative methodologies involved interviews that sought to 1) privilege the experiences of students, 2) explore the complexities of adolescence and racial/ethnic identity development, 3) identify the extent to which the relational cultural framework (used within the AVID elective class) supports or fails to support historically marginalized students within advanced learning environments. Developing an understanding of prohibitive factors or positive assets in support of school achievement within the AVID program has the potential to inform practices and/or diminish barriers to student participation in advanced classes